I got to tour  the Watts Towers this week in south central Los Angeles.  Simon or “Sam” Rodia called the sculpture in his backyard Nuestro Pueblo, or “our town.”  Spires of ferro-cement, tile, shells, found objects, broken glass mosaics.  Crafted meticulously over the course of 33 years (1921–1954).  I’m inspired and in awe of what one man can do.  A drop in a the bucket adds up to something big in time and that’s what Simon intended to do – make something BIG.  You can’t help but wonder about the man behind the art while wandering the space.  It would take months to even observe all of the details etched into the intricate monument.  A video called I Build Tower documents the story of Simon and his work ( preview on IMDB ).  I like where he says “You gotta do someting, thata they never got ‘em in the world”.

View photos »

Since 1993, the quarterly journal The Last Straw has been sharing news and developments from around the world about straw-bale construction and natural building.  You can now find selected articles available online!  How great is that?

The Last Straw Blog »

What are you doing October 1 – 4, 2009?
Why not come to the Water Woman Festival in Joshua Tree, California…
The Water Woman Festival is an interactive ART and Ecological Experience featuring Eco-Artists, Green-Architects, Top Natural Builders, Permaculture Designers, Inspirational Eco-Leaders, Soulful Musicians and Sustainable Lifestyle Visionaries.
Water Woman Festival »

It’s been super fun to watch the process of Ziggy and friends building his cob house, dubbed Gobcobatron, over the last year or so. It’s a new installation on the land of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, a ecological and socially minded intentional community in northeastern Missouri. Ziggy has been busy working on a spiral designed cob house with a reciprocating living roof, a rocket stove, earthen floors and interior finishes. Now it seems that he’s ready to move in!

I’m gracious to Ziggy for documenting the process as he works step by step through building a cob house. Sharing insights and taking the time to document his experience, which is no small feat in it’s self. Congratulations!

Visit The Year of Mud »

Explore the world of natural building and meet some of its pioneers who are creating beautiful and inexpensive houses out of earth and straw, houses that you can make, too. This is a way of building that can transform how you see the earth and yourself.

After almost  three years of volunteer development, it’s complete.  Well, kinda… like anything on the web, it’s ever-changing.  The new NBN website (2.0)  is live, with member events, member profiles, official NBN News and natural building Articles.  I believe the Natural Building Network will be the information resource on the web for natural building and related topics.  There are many new features still in the works, so stay tuned!

Visit the Natural Building Network »

Cob Workshops is a free listing for cob building workshops and events.

The new Cob Workshops site has a fancy new design and a few new features.  We’ve added the ability to search listings and browse by category.  You can now Add Your Event straight from the web site; no need to email our volunteers.  Many people have expressed that workshops are little out of their price range, so we’ve created a Work Exchange Message Board for those interested in exchanging labor for experience, or for those that are throwing Work Parties and could use some help.  Listing your workshop will always be free, but we’ve added a new service called Feature Your Event, that will advertise your special event on Cob Workshops & I Love Cob!

Visit the Cob Workshops »

My friend and colleague David Sheen has finished the documentary First Earth, Uncompromising Ecological Architecture.  David will be touring the eastern U.S. this month giving lectures and pre-release screenings of the film.
Along his travels around the world David has provided us with wonderful photos of earthen buildings.  From modest mud huts to magnificent earthen skyscrapers.
Now the documentary is complete.  Congratulations David!

Visit the First Earth web site for more information »

“The heated day bed/seat coming out into the room works well for this space; it gently partitions the room into two spaces.  At the end of a hard day’s work the day bed is THE place to find me sprawled out on my back, healing my sore muscles.  Our heat seeking Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy also covets the stove and spent every winter evening laying on it when we weren’t.  In this photo he is forgoing the soft pillows in favor of the serious heat coming through the blanket (necessary after 4 hours of firing).  This picture was actually taken the morning after a firing, everything is still hot.” – Jason Temple

Karyn and Jason live in Australia, where they share their knowledge and passion for cob.  They offer design consultation and assistance to those involved with natural building projects, and work with schools and community groups to develop cob projects that improve their local environment, get people working together and having fun.

See more photos at their Stoves and Ovens page »