Sand dunes, sculpted in lime plaster

‘Swell and Swale’ is an earthwork/landscape feature at Green Lake Woods on the Sand Ridge Campus of the Forest Preserves of Cook County. It represents a series of sand dunes, cut in cross section to reveal striated color bands of earth that form a dune. The sculpture was created with custom-tinted lime plasters—plastering with lime is an historic masonry technique that creates a durable but permeable surface.

6' high x 40' wide x 30' deep.

Earth, pigmented lime plaster, segmental block retaining wall, limestone gravel

General Contractors: Jamie Topper and Laura Miracle/Miracle Works

Concept Design by Spacehaus, Inc spacehaus.net/

Science and interpretive direction: Sand Ridge Nature Center

Civil Engineering: EVA Design and Engineering

Structural Engineering: Christopher B. Burke Engineering Ltd

Landscaping and retaining wall construction: Pan-Oceanic Inc

Shotcrete: J. Gill and Company

Special thanks to U. S. Heritage Group

See photos of the completed project here.