The Global C.O.B
The Global C.O.B. Team (Community of Biobuilders) consists of trained cob builders of all nationalities, ages, specialties and in all areas of the world, ready to teach a workshop or lead a project…all in support of more earthen construction replacing concrete on the Planet and increasing awareness and experience of natural building everywhere, especially in the non-Western countries where the awareness and need is greater for well-built earthen housing.
Please refer to our For Students pages to learn how you can proceed on the journey to becoming a Cob Workshop assistant, teacher, intern and builder with CruzinCobGlobal.
Here is our international team of teachers….we are waiting for you to join us!
CLAUDINE DESIREE
MASTER COBBER/COB INSTRUCTOR
(International)
The 2017 Cut!
Born and raised on the 22nd floor of a skyscraper in NYC to two Jewish immigrants, I carried my Manhattan/European roots with me to California and beyond. I studied Geography, International Relations/Development and International Environmental Policy in the academic world in California, France, and Switzerland before and while raising Viva, Joia and Xica, my three stellar sons, currently established all over the U.S. honing their journeys and all cob lovers (yeah!). My academic pursuits soon gave way to the obligatory West Coast Yoga/Meditation/Massage path and thus the work of a Spiritually Awakened life was initiated. My academic interests were also complemented with hands-on learning in every aspect of Sustainable Living skills, which I then put into action on my 5000 square foot homestead in downtown Santa Cruz near the beach with cob buildings, permaculture, a compost 
toilet, chickens, fruit trees and the lowest utility bill in SC! When my youngest son turned 18, and I turned 50, my next Dream was manifested with the sale of my Mini-Urban Ecovillage to fuel a solo Global Ecovillage and Cob Teaching Bike Tour for the next three years. I am halfway through. Ultimately I will find and decide on my next and final nesting ground, a co-creation of the Finest Ecovillage and Learning/Arts Center on the Planet. My unending love of travel, speaking in other languages and cultural immersion will always continue and I envision having beautiful cob houses to come to in all of my favorite places, which I am discovering right now. I am so grateful for the strong support of the Universe confirming my path every day.
Learning to build cob houses has been an unexpected gift in so many ways. The joy I see on people’s faces at my workshops when they roll up their pants for the first time and stick their toes in the cool soft mud, the laughter and heart-to-heart conversations ignited while mixing and building with a partner, the meditative concentration of working on a sculpture, the satisfaction of stepping back and seeing your beautiful trimmed wall section, the excitement at embedding bottles and sculpting an art window, the bliss of relaxing with good food and a cold beer after a full day’s building in community, and the gratitude of leaving confident in starting a dream project….are why I do this work. Over and over again, all over the world, cob building creates childlike joy, love, community, and empowerment. It has shown itself to be much more than a building technique. It is a remedy for a better Life on Earth. It creates Happy People living in Happy Houses. Ho.
VIVA HANSEN
PROFESSIONAL COBBER/COB ASSISTANT
(International)
As a kid Cob was this weird, empowering thing my mom did to build us a bigger home. I participated when I wanted, and skipped out when I didn’t. Though as time went on the Cob effect was undeniable. Everytime a build was underway there was music and laughter and food and wisdom from people of all ages and backgrounds.
As I matured through my high school years I was able to involve myself with enough earthen building to feel its practical magic. Then one 
summer I created an opportunity to build a meditation room with my high school physics teacher. His passionate involvement with our Indigenous community transformed the project into a spiritual experience. Throughout the summer we made long trips to sacred rivers and hand-picked beautiful stones for the foundation, often walking for miles on a trail with three or four stones in a backpack. Then as I finished my college experience and returned to California, the opportunity to join my mother on her journey bloomed.
For me, Cob is primarily a physical experience. It has always been about sweat and breath. The feel of different dirts and sands, straws and rocks. And it is a mystical experience, bringing me back to the earth. But what I have learned from the last year is that Cob building can be a tool to sew communities back together. To bring “strangers” into a common space and make them family. In that vein, Cob really is a product of my life philosophy. Something that I can stand behind fully because I know that from top to bottom it is peace, hard work, sustainable and love.
As I continue to learn in this life I will continue to share what Cob has shared with me.
KITA GLASS
MASTER COBBER/COB INSTRUCTOR
(California, Latin America)
My name is Kita 
Glass. I have been doing natural building for about six years. My first project was a 120 ft cob house in Santa Cruz, which I have been living in for about five years. Since then, I have worked with cob, slip straw, straw bale, various mixes of paper and earth and recycled materials of all kinds as
well as compost toilets and compost heaters. I have several years of experience in standard construction as well, but I believe that most standard building sites are incredibly wasteful, toxic, only occasionally fun and rarely produce something really beautiful. I think that building with earth can be very therapeutic and also be catalyst for reconsidering the way we take care of all our basic needs in relation to the natural world.
JOIA HANSEN
months illuminated to me the joy of working symbiotically with the Earth and community. Though labor was intense, respite came in way of interpersonal connection and teamwork: I made numerous friends throughout the process. I got to learn some fundamentals of geology, geography, and culture in relation to the field of natural building. After my twentieth-or-so batch of cob, I felt like I had progressed from layperson to quasi-professional; I think this reflects how simple the technique is compared to others. I would say that earthen construction comes as a revelation in a time of increasing dependence on artificial materials and techniques in the field of architecture. Cob is grounding, artistic, and lots of fun!
SHEENA CONROE
Wild and free is how Sheena likes to describe herself….young goddess of the Earth who feels right at home playing in the mud purposefully and has the energy to build her own cob house alone in a month when she will be ready! Sheena has assisted in our Marrakesh workshop and looks forward to begin teaching short weekend cob workshops in California soon!
CHAD “COB” FRANCO
Workin’ with the Ancestors in Portugal
My passion for Cob started with a PDC course I took in 2016 with an urgency for great changes in my life. Working with Cob has brought together so many amazing like-minded people from around the world to take back our right to have affordable housing and learn these ancient skills of working with Earth to create works of art in the form of our dream homes. I’ve always wanted to build things and work with my hands for a trade skill but never knew where to focus my attention. After learning more about permaculture and sustainability I found Cob as an answer to my undefi
Future Professional Cob Sculptor!
ned path. I plan to create a community of friends and family in Central America in my future and learning how to build with Cob was my ticket to creating a place of my own in that dream. Using local materials, recycled doors and windows, finding second hand tools and an imagination is all you need to build the home you’ve always wanted. It’s a messy job but someone’s gotta do it and spread the knowledge for everyone to realize the power is within our hands to build a brighter future for ourselves.
The Future Begins with These Guys!
