🌱 Earth Church | Phase 1 | Sanctum
Cob Haven: Building Sustainable Futures | Vinton, Louisiana | 2024
With support from a grant from Healthy Gulf, Earth Rise Collective launched the first phase of the Earth Church: a community building constructed entirely from natural materials, serving as a demonstration and public space for Southwest Louisiana.
Instead of building an individual house, we chose to create a shared community resource: eliminating the need for land purchase and creating a hub for gathering, learning, and connection. The project was hosted at a USDA-designated People's Garden and brought together vulnerable community members for nature therapy and skill-building through cob construction.
What we built:
A cob community building using locally sourced clay, sand, and straw. These are all materials with a fraction of the carbon footprint of conventional construction. The structure is designed to be resilient, energy-efficient, and hurricane-resistant, demonstrating that natural buildings can be permitted, insured, and built to last.
Workshop activities:
Hands-on cob mixing and construction
Nature therapy sessions: mindfulness exercises, gardening, nature walks
Community design contest: "What is the shape of your soul?" invited ideas for the building
Community engagement events to share progress
Vision for the future:
The success of Phase I laid the groundwork for a larger dream: an eco-village of cob houses serving as a sustainability hub, led by elder environmental activists including Ms. Debra Ramirez and Ms. Lois Malvo, who currently live in hurricane-damaged housing.
