Living Earth Structures - Cob Adobe Bricks Buildings Benches Ovens Environmentally Friendly Construction Materials

A cob bench was sculpted outside on the sidewalk and inside the restaurant. Trees and nooks were also sculpted on the walls of this new raw and organic food restaurant.

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Lydias Kitchen

Earth Fort

Cob Hot Tub Sunnyslope Spa, Petaluma - June 2010

This is the first Cob Hot Tub ever! It is heated with a copper tube which coils through the oven. It is made with earthbags covered in cob, and pladtered with lime, sand and clay. It is sealed with lindseed oil and beeswax. There is a cold dunk tank next to it as well. The idea, is that you can cook a pizza while taking a hot tub, then put the pizza on a raft, and float it on the water.

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Cob Hot Tub

Adobe Meditation Dome, Petaluma - May 2010

This 10 ft. adobe dome was built using about 500 adobe bricks built right on site. There was no form work used, just a compass to create the curve. It is in the backyard of a wise teacher from India.It is used to house a statue of Durga, and for silent meditation.

Mushroom Oven, Petaluma - May 2010

This mushroom oven was started during a workshop sponsored by Daily Acts in which participants learned the basics of building an oven using earth right on site. It is in the backyard of a well known local green architect.

Lovin' Oven Oasis Farm, Petaluma - May 2010

This cob oven/bench was built as a workshop lead by Micah during the weekend of the350 Garden Challenge in which over 600 garden projects took place throughout Sonoma County. The owners are very excited about this oven being the centerpiece of their new property.

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Lovin' Oven

Cob Bench Sunnyslope Spa, Petaluma - June 2010

This bench was built using earthbags for the foundation, and adobe bricks made right on site.

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Earthen Plaster

Cob Oven, Sonoma - April 2010

This oven was built in the backyard of the President of the Board for the Sonoma Ecology Center. They have already had a few successful pizza parties.

Cob Oven, Calistoga - March 2010

This cob oven was built for a Greek woman who loves to bake bread. It has a space below for wood storage, and an earthen plaster.

Dogon Dome, Mali Africa - Jan-March 2010

This dome was started during a two week workshop, lead by Earthen Hand Natural Building, and then finished by Micah with the help of some of the villagers. It is being used now as a music and meeting room with its great acoustics.

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Dogon Dome

Gaia's Garden, Santa Rosa - December 2009

The interior of this restaurant was made to look and feel like an earthen Wonderland, with cob trees arching over the windows and doors. A cob oven was also put outside where Teitzah's Pizza's made its opening Debut.

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Gaia's Garden Resturant - Teitzah's Pizza at Gaia's Garden

Buddha Oven, Napa Winery - November 2009

This Buddha oven was built next to the outdoor bar and pool area for a Napa winery.

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Buddha Oven

Cob Oven, Santa Rosa - October 2009

This oven was built in the backyard by the pool for a couple who loved making pizzas.

Tree Oven, Napa - October 2009

This oven/bench was sculpted by a backyard pool.

Mayan Oven, Sonoma - September 2009

This oven/bench was built in a backyard of a man who loves having parties and making pizzas.

Sphinx Isis Oasis - September 2009

This was sculpted in ther garden of an Egyptian retreat center.

Mayan Glyph Oven - July 2009

This oven was built with a group of Latino gang members in a Green Jobs program.

Garden Goddess, Petaluma Backyard

This beautiful garden goddess was a dream come true for the home owner, who gave specific requests for how she wanted the Goddess to look. Handprints of all 12 people in her family were embedded into the cob.

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Cob Garden Goddess

Cob Oven on Trailer - The Chariot of Fire

This oven is brought to festivals, parades, parties and gatherings. It is able to cook pizzas in less than 3 minutes, and is well insulated to cook bread 10 hours later. It was in the Sonoma 4th of July Parade, serving samples of naan bread to spectators.

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Mobile Pizza Oven - Chariot of Fire in Parade

The Dome Sauna, Petaluma CA

A stone foundation was placed in a circle, and adobe bricks sacked about 5 feet tall. Plywood was put across, and a mix of straw bales and sand created the form, in which 6 inches of cob was put over the form, with bottles set into the roof to allow in light. One the cob had dried, the form was removed, leaving a hollowed out dome. A 50 gallon drum barrel was set inside placed horizontally with a door on the outside of the barrel. A fire is made inside the barrel, and water is poured over the hot barrel causing it to steam, creating an incredibly effective steam sauna.

Santa Rosa Cob Oven Bench

This project was made using Earth right on site. Adobe bricks were used for the back and the sealer was made from lindseed oil and beeswax.

Petaluma Bounty June 20-21 2009

In this two day workshop at the Petaluma Bounty Farm we sculpted a rooster named the "cobster" which is the mascot of the farm. We used car tires packed with earth for the foundation.

Daily Acts May 30-31 2009

In this weekend workshop, we created a simple but elegant oven & bench using earth right from on site. We used an earthen plaster with horse manure as the fiber, and a linseed oil sealer.

Sonoma Ashram

A simple but elegant oven & bench using earth right from on site. We used an earthen plaster with horse manure as the fiber, and a linseed oil sealer.

Butterfly Social Club, Chicago Il

The owner of a popular nightclub, the Funky Buddha was very interested in having his new Organic Nightclub be built using cob and al natural materials. All the benches, DJ booth, trees, tables, archways, and statues, was all one continuous sculpture, making it perhaps the largest earthen sculpture in the world.

Sunnyslope Road, Petaluma CA

At this location, clay was excavated from on site, and adobe bricks were made, over a 2 week period. A foundation was made from recycled concrete blocks, and the backs of the benches utilized the adobe bricks. The oven was shaped as a “Luma” playing with the old Petaluma joke that “you can Pet a cat, you can Pet a dog, but you cant Pet a Luma”. But now you can Pet a Luma, and cook in a Luma, and be warmed by a Luma, play music in a Luma, and be hugged by a Luma. The oven has been used for neighborhood parties and community gatherings.

Guatemala Restaurant, Guatemala

Los Abrazos in San Marcos la Laguna restaurant was built for a local Mayan woman who had lost her house and restaurant in a devastating hurricane the previous year, and had no means to build a new restaurant. She was very open to the idea of having two cob ovens built for her, one in the shape of an Eagle, and the other in the shape of a Condor, with their wings joined, and wrapped around, so that people would sit in the embracing hugs of these two birds. A quetzal bird was also sculpted a Pachamama bench, and an arch over the doorway. The design was of great interest to the village, who had never seen the artistic sculptural applications of cob.

Buddha Bar, San Pedro

On the roof of a popular bar in San Pedro a large Buddha was sculpted with large arms allowing at least 16 people to sit in the arms. A bamboo roof was placed over, with a thatch roof.

Los Amigos, Flores

In a popular hostel in the island of Flores, a cob bench was sculpted to resemble tree roots. The clay used was a white clay known as calisa which was excavated from deep in the ground, and brought to the island on boats. During construction, a clay bath was available for patrons to use, which was a great spectacle.

Eagle Bench/Oven, Chicago Il

In a community garden in the notorious Cabrini Green housing project, an Eagle oven was built, allowing the students to bake pizzas with vegetables they grew in the garden. Many of the children helped in the building of the oven, which they greatly enjoyed.

The Sea of Bamboo, Sonoma CA

The Sea of Bamboo is a healing spa in Sonoma which offers massage treatments, workshops and ceremonies. The backyard space has a hot tub and sauna, surrounded by redwoods and bamboo. There was a big pile of clay that had been excavated to build a platform, perfectly suited to build an earthen oven/bench. The owner asked to have a large Pachamama (Mother Nature) sculpted in her backyard in a space that had held many fire ceremonies. Cinder blocks and broken concrete were used for the foundation, and rubble was used for the infill and a thick layer cob was put over the form. Inside of the Pachamama oven there is a copper pipe set into the cob which heats up when the oven is hot, which allows water to be poured through the oven to heat up water for tea. The oven is often used to make Teitzah’s Pizza’s and is a big hit with all who come to experience being inside the hugs of “Pachamama”

Yoga Now, Chicago II

In an existing brick building in downtown Chicago, cob was brought up two the second floor through the elevator. The entire interior of the 3500 sq ft space was plastered with earthen clay plaster, the windows were arched out, trees were sculpted onto the walls, a heated cob bench was sculpted in the lobby and a meditation dome built in the children’s room.

Cob Owl Bench, Chicago II

Built on the sidewalk of downtown Chicago it was greatly enjoyed by members of the community, many of whom helped with its creation. It was permitted by the City, and won an award for the Best Art Project in the Edgewater district of Chicago.

Pun Pun Community, Thailand

During a two week workshop, this little hut was built using adobe bricks made from the surrounding land.

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Pun Pun Community

Waldorf School, Argentina

This school was built for the kinder garden children as part of a workshop organized by Kleiwerks. It was given a living roof and sheep were allowed to climb the roof to cut the grass on the roof.