Human Settlements Review - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

Human Settlements Review, Volume 1, Number 1, 2010
• Cob
Examples of cob architecture can be
found in Tulbach. After the earthquake
of 29 September 1969, in which the
largest portion of the main street
of Tulbach was almost ruined, Dr
Gawie Fagan, who conducted the
restoration, found that the walls of the
houses were made of cob.
Figure 6: Historic houses restored in Church Street, Tulbach
Cob walls were also used in the construction
of the early Free State houses (Pretorius
1997:134). When a farm became a more
permanent residence, stone and sun-dried
blocks were used for construction (Pretorius
1997:134).
• Sods
The earth sods were cut and left to
dry. They were then laid in a shallow
trough, with the grass facing the
ground. Each layer was placed, using
mud as an adhesive, or sometimes the
sods were dry-stacked (Labuschagne
1998:27).
South Africa has a rich earth-building
tradition regarding the different
techniques, locations and soil types,
as well as the country’s different
cultures. What is possibly even more
important is the fact that, in the various
earth-building traditions of the people
of this country, more similarities than
differences can be observed.
3.2 Contemporary sustainable earth
buildings in South Africa
During recent years different groups started
experimenting with alternative materials and
construction methods in South Africa. The
word “alternative” is applied to materials and
techniques not part of mainstream building
practices. Many of the buildings may not
constitute great architecture but they have
played a noteworthy role regarding the criteria
of sustainability.
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