[Cob] cob building design acceptance

[Dean Sherwin]

I think the point about "square" houses is a good one.  Cob building 
in England is really brand new as a movement, for 100+ years cob 
houses were not built, back when they were, as a part of local 
industry, that was just the most economical way to make houses - 
usually cottages and rural workers houses - in a logical way.  In 
many cases they look the  same as 'normal' construction - which is 
just what it is.  I did visit a new cob house being built, it had 
some curved parts, and I asked the builder about whether it was as 
easy to built this way.  He said that it was fine for the cob but 
everything else that had to fit into it - floor and roof framing, 
stairs and miscellaneous carpentry - took three times as 
long.    Also of course its harder to furnish a non rectilinear 
space, as Buckminster Fuller found. (Maestro of the dome, for those 
too  young...)   It's sure nice to see that organic curved sculptural 
quality - but the character of cob can be achieved without  being 
hobbit-like, if one wants to achieve a functional, straightforward 
structure.  Which indeed will probably be more acceptable to the 
unitiated official mind.

At 03:00 PM 10/2/2009, you wrote:
>Just to be simple on the attempt to get cob approved, how much does
>the design (i.e. shape) of a cob house have to do with persuasion?
>Cob homes here in the states are organic shaped whereas the ones I've
>seen in Europe are more straight forward. Maybe a big reason for this
>is the Cob Cottage Company's suggestion of designing your house
>around your daily activities. I mean, if I were an inspector and
>someone come to me with a design that had curved walls I would
>automatically say it wasn't going to work. BUT, if the same person
>came to me with a four-corner, straight walled design I'd be more
>accepting of the plan, as long as I could see first hand the material
>it was going to be built of. Why are Americans such "purists" and
>want to build their "illegal" homes to look like something out of a
>fairy tale? Besides it's cool and it's possible. I'm sure the English
>recognized the plasticity of cob but they didn't push it beyond four
>corners.
>Damon in GA



Dean Sherwin