The Dome Education & Gathering Center

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the level of thinking that created them.

~Einstein

To move beyond just "having a place to live" and leaving our dwellings and neighborhoods to "go out in nature" is the underlying goal of The Dome Center's Natural/Regenerative building workshop programs.

It is possible to take steps toward creating buildings that reflects our human nature as described in many Paradise stories. Most humans find something missing or hollow in the toxic boxes that we find in modern housing options. Physically, mentally and spiritually lacking, our shelters typically cost us decades of money exchange, compromise our environment and health and encourage inefficient large floor plans that promote, almost demand inputs of material glut to fill them.

The good news is that there is a resurgence in availability and experimentation to synthesize old and new technologies that create a less toxic and inherently more interesting place for humans to live. Educators from The Dome Center have created demonstration projects and held workshops displaying Straw bale and Cob technologies. Along with many others, these technologies help us to feel confident in building our own homes on a human scale. They supplant many of the dangerous chemicals used inside our homes with natural alternatives and build gracefully with much less lumber, metal, or manufactured products.

Many exciting developments are growing the area of Natural Building. The Dome Center promotes education and research in this expanding body of knowledge. With an open-minded approach and constant experimentation we can utilize our natural instincts to build future buildings that will help regenerate natural processes (water flow, soil building, biodegradability) that have been damaged by past and current destructive, building practices.

Cob workshop Union, IL 

Cob livingroom 

Cob garden shed 

 The word cob comes from an old English word meaning  lump. When we build with cob we form lumps of clay from the earth, and mix it with sand and straw.  It is very easy to learn and everybody in the community can contribute to the planning and building process... children and grandparents alike! Cob is great for making natural and organic shapes like, niches, arches and walls that are curved. Cob buildings are very inexpensive, unlike modern new homes which can take a lifetime to pay for. Cob has been used for making earth homes for thousands of years in all types of climates because they are warm in the winter and cool in the summer and are even suited to rainy climates like the Pacific Northwest or the hot/dry desert.

The old technique of building with cob is eco-friendly because it is non-toxic and recyclable.  Additionally, unlike other building methods, it does not pollute, deplete our forests, require invasive mining techniques or even require the use of power tools. 

We are faced with an imminent need to change our lifestyles for the health of the planet and its inhabitants.  Returning to cob,  an abundant and cheap building material, is one of the answers to the problems of diminishing natural resources, environmental degradation, and toxic building materials.