A folly that examines the relationship between humans and their surroundings
“Research in the Soil” is a folly, created as part of FollyArtNorg 2024, an art route set in the forests surroundings Norg (Drenthe). The outdoor exhibition features 21 temporary artworks, made by an international selection of artists, along a walking route through the peat landscape.
The process of constructing buildings is both a skill and an art that, through its development, seems to cause more harm than the value it generates. Resource extraction, transportation, waste, and CO2 have a negative impact on our health, the landscape, nature, and the climate—both near and far, in the short and long term. The environment’s flexibility seems to have reached the limits of its possibilities. This folly examines the relationship between humans and their surroundings and the impact of this relationship on the landscape and the climate.
“Research in the Soil” is a simple-looking cylindrical structure made from stacked earth blocks and wooden slats. The blocks are made from hand-compressed earth from the local area and are air dried through the open stacking method. The process of making and stacking the blocks is fragile and labor-intensive. As a result, a connection is formed between the creators, the raw materials, and the soil from which they are extracted, instilling pride in the result and fostering cohesion. It represents a collaboration between humans and their environment.
The temporary structure has both architectural and symbolic meaning: it offers shelter and invites pause and contemplation. Additionally, the structure refers to history, impermanence, origins in the soil, human encounters, and the relationship with the environment. The building creates a sense of place.
Its form references the stacks of drying peat bricks that used to be built in the peatlands and to the field chapels that provided travelers and locals with a place for reflection. Unplanned by the creators, the folly has become part of a ritual where visitors leave found stones and picked flowers on the drying slats inside the structure.
Research in the soil is an experiment in a long-term study by vector-i, in collaboration with others, towards innovative, clean, and improved building practices. It was realized in collaboration with Alfa College, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Cosis, Oskam, and Koninklijke Sjouke Dijkstra.
Research in the soil won the jury prize: “a truly poetic experience.”
