So, cob is comprised of clay, sand and straw. That's it! These materials are ridiculously cheap and easy to come by almost anywhere on the planet. When properly mixed together they become incredibly strong, durable and beautiful - the perfect combination for a home. Cob ingredients are mixed in the proper ratio, then stacked in layers or sculpted by hand into the forms of walls, etc. Similarly, adobe bricks contain the same materials but they are dried in brick form, then used to make a structure.
The beginnings of a cob structure.
To the best of our current knowledge, cob and adobe type materials have been used for well over 10,000 years. Throughout time the art of natural building evolved into forms such as sod, rammed earth, straw-clay, wattle-and-daub, etc. Cob is an English term for mud building in which no forms nor wooden structures are used in the building process. In Old English "cob" means loaf. Similar forms of earthen building are found throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the US.
A cob home in the UK. Built in around the 1400s. Credit telegraph.co.uk
The Great Wall of China, built about 2,000 years ago, was mostly built of earthen bricks. Some of the massive pyramids in Egypt were built with earthen materials. These are some of the largest structures on earth.
It is estimated that close to 50% of people on this planet live in earthen buildings, like cob.
It is estimated that close to 50% of people on this planet live in earthen buildings, like cob.
This image shows a city in Yemen made entirely of cob! It's huge and you can see buildings that are quite a few stories high. This really exemplifies cob's structural strength. The outside of the buildings are finished with a lime plaster.
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