Earth Playground

Tuuli Tool - A Survey of Wind Patterns around Taattisten Lake

Wind is a powerful force of nature, shaping the landscape with its constant influence. As the wind passes through the landscape, it leaves clues and signs across vegetation, the water, and the land. For example, deciduous trees tend to grow more thickly towards the prevailing wind and more faintly away from it. On a calm day, the faintest gust of wind can be seen across the darkest patches of the Taattisten lake.

Openings at the farm create wind tunnels, pushing the tall grass permanently sideways. Noticing these clues, we wanted to make the wind audible to test our observations, but to also share them with passers-by and invite them to pause, listen and notice the signs themselves. We took raw clay from the lake and turned it into wind whistles that are hung on trees and across poles. When the wind is just right the whistles hum away validating our observations.

Earth is a building material that has been used for thousands of years. It is free and democratic, with very little technology required to use it. Building with earth is straightforward, and allows for many shapes and forms. Earth can be combined with other materials such as timber and metal to provide more complex structures, which can be reused between installations. As rammed earth specialist Martin Rauch writes, installations can return to nature, breaking down into their original material constituents.

We believe that earth can be harnessed to build exciting new play installations, with several advantages. Their lifetime can be adjusted to be long-lasting or temporary, depending on the construction techniques used. Earth is a free material, often disposed of and shipped away from a site. It is also sustainable since it is a monomaterial and can degrade easily. Building with earth is inherently participatory, requiring a strong community to build a project.