Photo by Kelly Hart.

Kelly Hart has created a great slide show that displays earthbag construction and finished projects. He has also published a new web resource at earthbagbuilding.com. I’m a fan of earthbags. Benefits of earthbag construction include less water consumption, flexible earthen material ratio, courses and go up in moments ( no waiting for cob to dry). Bags can be plastered with earth or papercrete as Kelly has done. This type of construction is a form of rammed earth. The bags create a modular flexible form that stays in the wall. The polypropylene bags deteriorate in the sun, so covering them is very important. If you went to the moon, bring polypropylene bags and a shovel and you can build a shelter there… I suppose they would be called moonbags then.

The last month was a busy one. It started with a visit from David Sheen. We toured around New Mexico documenting natural buildings for his upcoming film. We shot photos and interviews at The Lama Foundation, The Taos Pueblo, The 2007 Adobe Conference, The Greater World Community and other various building wonders.

Check out the photos here:
Old Brick of Cob, New Mexico »
Earth Armada »
Goddess in the Details »
Adobe USA 2007 »

I didn’t have a lot of experience building when I began this project, but I always enjoyed making forts and helping with the family house when I was young. I’ve worked with sculpture before, and in a way that’s what Project Moonunit is to me… that or a goat shed, winery, art studio, guest house, a mud hut, hacienda, ‘dobe, spaceship, pod, playground and home.

Continue Reading…

Photo by Monica Proulx

Recently on the Coblist, Ray requested to see more photos of the North American School of Natural Building in Coquille, Oregon. Cob Cottage workshop alumni work on wonderful cob buildings… then leave never to see how the place evolves!
I worked on a small cottage in the 2001 Cob Cottage workshop. Monica Proulx sent some images of the ‘complex’ from her 2006 workshop experience. If any one else has photos of the Natural Building School, please send them along and I’ll post em to the gallery.

We are happy to announce that I Love Cob! will be hosting some of David Sheen’s natural building photo essays…

		Cascadia Cob
		beautiful healthy houses made of monolithic adobe along the West Coast of North America
		Cascadia Cob 2005
		sequel to “Cascadia Cob,” more earthen buildings from a road trip up the Left Coast
		Portland Pilgrimage 2005
		mud structures built in the last year alone in the capital city of cob
		U. K. Cob
		earthen buildings in the United Kingdom, some in continuous use for over 500 years
		Little House on the Sahel
		communities of beautiful healthy houses made of earth in northern Ghana, West Africa
		Ethiopian Earth
		a six-part photo essay on natural building all across this East African country
		Castles Made of Clay
		the ultimate proof positive of the power of mud, the adobe skyscrapers of Yemen
		Mud Masters
		present-day mud-brick home builders in Yemen, from forms to floors to finishing