Grammophone windmill


With the project, "met de wind", I want to highlight our dependence on and attention to the wind, and in that process, I explore how our connection to the wind can form a philosophical foundation for a life lived in tune with nature. The windmills I’ve created play music at a speed determined by the wind. In addition, I draw attention to the wind through a windmill that can come to you instead of the other way around, and through the interaction you can have with it. If you want the music to play the way you want it to, you’ll have to find the right wind. Maybe you’ll have to wait a day or two, choose a nice high spot, gaze at the clouds a few times a day, or see what kind of insects are floating through the air. And when the wind does pick up, where is it coming from? Can you sense it with your nose or ears, or can you tell by looking at the clouds? The windmills I’ve designed are objects that celebrate living in tune with the wind. I present the windmills in a workshop for children that invites them to learn about wind through play and challenges them to dream of a future where anything is possible with the wind. 



Workshop met de wind 


I present my work within a short workshop format for 6-12 year old children. The workshop revolves around ways of minding and finding attention to the wind. the windmill becomes a tool for awareness of wind speed, direction and wind types. The windmills are made to create music on the speed of the wind creating a resulting. During the project I researched ways of finding, recognising and experiencing wind. You can find the documentation of that here...
These methods come into discussion durng the workshop to learn about the possibillities of working with wind power.


Testing version 1 of grammophone windmill 


Early process 




After the research project resulting in voor de wind a chair that moves with the wind and uit de wind a wall that adapts to the wind I wanted to build further on working with wind as  the natural force that sets my work into motion. Together with my fascination for weather and wind,  I feel the urgency to expand on the relationship we have and have had in the netherlands with the wind and how we are losing this. in terms of energy by wind , day to day experience of wind and In my essay I describe how we distance ourselves from the elements. The miller and the windmill could play a central role in reinventing our relationship to the wind.

Molenaar van de toekomst 



As a start of this project I reimagined the miller as a keystone personage for re-imagining our relationship to wind. The same way polineasian navigators utilize their cultural heritage as succesful methods to voyage amoung the elements between islands thousands of miles apart, the miller could be the dutch example for this. How would the miller navigate the atmosphere for a modern demand?

Workshop week on windstruments 
one bladed windmill with a bell 
Sound blocking windmill 
First test on pitchable windmill out of pine 
Second test on pitchable windmills
Windmill during passion project
Mechanical research for windmills 
Experiment for variable transmissians 
1:25 reduction mechanism 
frame design version 1
Orange juicer version for greenlight.
What to attatch? A breadsaw?
A windmill that draws shapes from the wind?


Windmills   


I started experimenting with pitch-variable windmills, simply made out of pine wood. How are axises constructed. How do the mechanisms work. and what components are these mills made of? The axis of a windmill is the central piece, in traditional windmills these got extra attention with a dot ar a star 


Small windmill axis test 
Large windmill axis prototype 
Construction of an old mill 
Prototype for 6 bladed windmill
Prototype for  5 balded windmill 
Prototype for


How the sails are setup on an old windmill


Orange juicer version - april 2026


Quick sketch for windmill grammophone 



Movable windmill that can come to you


The grammophone record invites for a playfull way of involving the audience into listening to the record. making it ideal for an interactive workshop. instead of me making juice on my own we can collectively listen to music. 
Grammophone record test - april 2026


In reflection, i wanted to design more towards the audience, which are children from 8-12 years old. the windmill needed to become safer, but also enter a more dream like world where the possibillity of working with wind becomes something radiating fun rather than only a untillitarian demand. so I descided to re-design the windmill as a grammaphone player and found a way to program small usic boxes into windmills, giving the experience an extra layer of trying out on your own.   


Experimentation with the frame 

Intergration of horn in the frame 
Sketch for full size windmill
Re-design top part 
Size comparison: Higher is safer but will also stand out more 

Experimenting with the top 




Windmill blades design 


Prototyping shapes whith different amounts of wings 



Playing with shapes and colors of the mills 


Test prototype musicbox windmill 
Constructing mill axises with different numbers of wings 
Test prototype, music box windmill
middle part of the windmill 
Iterations for screw on middles
5 balded flower windmill 
Half rounded flat windmill
Construction for smaller windmill 
Square mill blades 
Metal cut axis piece






Musical elements 




Horn in productino 
Horn design for 5 blades
Horn design for 4 blades 
Grasshopper code for music cards 
Punchcards for windmills
Connection piece for grammophone