Modernist Sand Castles by Calvin Seibert

Dec 23, 2015 2 comments

New York based sand artist Calvin Seibert has been sculpting sand for the last 30 years, but his love affair started much much earlier when he was still a child. Young Calvin would spend time around construction sites playing with the huge pile of sand dumped there. When he was growing up, he thought he would become an architect, but he found himself drawn more towards the abstractness of the foundations and the initial framing then in the completed structures themselves. He became interested in Brutalism. “Looking at architecture magazines as a child and seeing hotels in French ski resorts made of concrete suited my sensibility, I was hooked,” Seibert recalls.

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Calvin Seibert didn’t became an architect as he had hoped. Instead, he became an artist. But since coming to New York 35 years ago, Mr. Seibert was tired of seeking exhibitions for his sculptures and drawings.

“I found it a hassle making art for shows,” he said. “I like to see results at the end of the day.”

It was then he decided that making sand castles was the way to go. Using a simple paint bucket, homemade plastic trowels, and up to about 150 gallons of water he creates spectacular modernist sandcastles.

Despite his interest in architecture, Seibert makes no blueprints for his castles.

“I make sketches over the course of the year but only have them in the back of my mind when I get started. There are no plans and the building process can take some quick turns along the way. This is often due to the initial scale decisions,” he told ArchDaily.

See more of Seibert’s castles below and on his Flickr page.

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