Tag Archive: cob

HomeGrown HideAways: Berea, Ky.

Instructor Jessa Turner

www.HomeGrownHideAways.org

Tuition: $335

This workshop will be an experimental cabin using Cob as infill on angled, geodesic wall sections. Participants will learn to identify appropriate materials and proportionalities for creating strong and beautiful earthen structures. We will also cover fenestrations and the use of bottles and other colored glass to create the effect of stained-glass.

HomeGrown HideAways: Berea, KY

Instructor Jessa Turner

www.HomeGrownHideAways.org

Tuition $225

This workshop will be an experimental cabin using Cob as infill on angled, geodesic wall sections. Participants will learn to identify appropriate materials and proportionalities for creating strong and beautiful earthen structures. We will also cover fenestrations and the use of bottles and other colored glass to create the effect of stained-glass. This is a continuation of the workshop begun in May.

Oregon City, Oregon

Instructor Bernhard Masterson

Tuition $860, discounts available

This nine- day workshop will cover what you need to know in order to create a snug and solid cob and straw bale building. Hands on instruction will cover materials, mixing, foundations, wall construction, doors, windows and roof.  Discussions and lectures will address: design, utilities, roofing, floors, and plasters.  Class members will have the opportunity to participate in all aspects of a cob build, from completing a foundation to framing a roof, as we practice skills on the construction of a 200 sq foot studio dug into a gentle slope in a 1 acre permaculture garden. Bernhard Masterson, designer and master builder, is a patient and available teacher whose knowledge and experience in the art of natural building is deep and wide.
Four additional weekend workshops on the site with Bernhard later this fall will provide optional opportunities to learn how to build a living roof, cob plaster, earthen floor, and a rocket stove.

The 9-day June workshop includes Three Gourmet Live Food Abundant Meals Daily, Community-Created fun, and on-site camping if needed.

Cost: $860  student, couple, and early bird discounts available
Weekends Only: (June 19-20 and 26-27) $200 per
To Register, contact Gabrielle Chavez, gabriellesgarden@gmail.com

Workshop details:  bernhard_masterson@hotmail.com

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Trained as a sculptor and educator, Bernhard Masterson has taught art and natural building for the last eight years. Skilled in hybrid cob and straw bale construction, living roofs, Rocket stoves, earth ovens, Rumford fireplaces, composting toilets, and water management, he leads a variety of workshops, projects, and artist residencies. Bernhard is a positive and insightful teacher who derives true satisfaction from empowering others to pursue their visions. Bernhard’s stunning cob cottage was featured in Oregon Home Magazine’s 2007 Green Living edition.

Mount Vernon, WA

Instructor Human Rights Festival, Jack Stephens and Carolyn Marie

http://www.ppplanet.org

Tuition Free, donations appreciated

Housing as a Human Right
Take a moment to imagine living in a home built from the soil beneath your feet. A house built into the hillside, heated by the sun. A home you can build yourself, for less than the price of a new car.
Learn more about this on March 5th at 7pm in the Skagit Valley College Philip Tarro Theater. With a film and panel discussion including Habitat for Humanity, Skagit Land Trust, WA Farm Worker Housing Trust, and Natural Building Network.
For more info go to www.ppplanet.org.
Donations Appreciated.

Feel like getting your hands in the mud?
Come to a Cob Bench workshop at Skagit Valley Food Co-op, Hosted by Jack Stephens and Carolyn Marie with the Natural Building Network Saturday March 6th, 9 am to 2pm.
$5 donation or bring lunch.

Custer, Wisconsin

Instructor Mark Morgan and Vincent Miresse

http://www.the-mrea.org

Tuition $110.00

Natural Building? Think three little pigs. Straw, Wood, Stone. Building with natural materials has been happening since the dawn of humankind. Come to the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) to learn about different types and styles of alternative construction and to learn about sustainable building and decision making. The purpose of this class is for people to reconnect with the materials that surround them and regain the knowledge about local, healthy, natural material use and selection and appropriate regional wall systems. Topics to be discussed: site and design considerations; foundations; local material – wood, clay, sand, stone, straw, etc.; wall systems – straw bale, light straw-clay, monolithic adobe (cob), cordwood, earth bag, rammed earth and rammed tire; earthen floors and plasters; stick framing, post and beam, and timber frame; and steel and living roofs.

Please register in advance.

Halle, The Netherlands

Instructor Christo Markham

http://www.buildingtraditions.eu

Tuition € 150

Learn to build an earthen oven from local and recycled materails.
Vegetarian lunch provided both days, camping is available.
Info and sign up: buildingtradition@gmail.com
or Tel. +31224298729

Earthen Building 101 Series

Building Foundation

- We will build a lime mortared foundation suitable for a cob structure.
- You will learn everything you need to know to build a lime mortar foundation for a building, including site selection, drainage, using lime, choosing materials, and utility access.
- We suggest out of town participants arrive Tuesday evening to set up camp. Local folks are encouraged to camp too. We will begin promptly at 9:00 Wednesday morning.
- Meals will be provided starting with supper on Tues. evening, three meals and a snack on Weds. thru Sat., and breakfast on Sun. morning. Please advise us of special diet needs.

- We will build a cob building as the second part of the workshop.
- You will learn everything you need to know to build with cob for a small building, including site selection, drainage, choosing materials, utility access, designing the threshold for a door, setting a window and door, and anchoring rafters in cob.
- We will start each day with breakfast, and begin building at 9:00. We will break for lunch at 12:00, and a snack will be provided in the afternoon at 3:00. Work will end at 5:30 to allow time for showers before supper at 6:30.
- Tours of local, sustainable and green building sites will be held some evenings.
- Plan to stay over Saturday evening for a special celebration

Pine Ridge, South Dakota

Instructor: Coenraad Rogmans

http://www.HouseAlive.org

Tuition: $825

This workshop offers an incredibly rich learning experience that has made it our most popular for the last 5 years. During the workshop you will develop the confidence, knowledge and skills to design and build your own natural building and sustainable living project. This workshop is for you if you are interested in building your own natural cottage, want to use natural materials in you present house in the form of a “natural renovation”, or are looking to make some lifestyle changes.

House Alive workshops focus on “learning by doing;” be prepared to do a lot of building. Constructing a house takes determination and sustained physical activity. We believe building your own house can be possible for anyone and teach “democratic building” techniques: Simplicity of design, building in community, using simple hand tools, taking care of our bodies, and extreme affordability to free ourselves from debt. But you don’t have to build your own home to employ these techniques. You can improve the beauty, comfort, and affordability of any living space by employing “Natural renovation” techniques or using “appropriate technologies.”

mixing cob We will focus much of our hands-on time on building with cob. Cob is often considered the “mother” of all natural building techniques. It has been around for millennia, is practiced worldwide, and the materials can be locally harvested. Cob doesn’t rot or burn and offers great flexibility to shape spaces to fit our lives. You will learn how to find materials, mix them into cob material and build strong, beautiful walls. You also will learn how to deal with foundations and roofs, how to put in windows, doors, plumbing and electricity, how to easily add arches, niches, and other sculptural features, and how to finish buildings with earthen floors and plasters. Afternoons and evenings will include lectures and demonstrations on a wide variety of natural building and appropriate technology topics (see curriculum). Over the course of the workshop you will learn how to easily integrate various forms of natural construction, such as straw bale, light-straw-clay, adobe brick, natural plasters and floors, round wood, and more.