Natural Buildings

Natural Buildings are structures built with minimally-processed, plentiful, or renewable natural materials, and Portland State University has several of them!

PSU's relationship with natural building began in the summer of 2005 with the construction of a Cob Dialogue Dome and Cob Oven. Cob is a natural building material similar to adobe made with a mixture of sand, clay, and straw. The Dialogue Dome and Oven projects were originally initiated by PSUrth, a PSU student group, in collaboration with PSU Facilities & Planning, the PSU Sustainability Group, City of Portland's Office of Sustainable Development, and City Repair Project, a local non-profit community development organization.

In addition to utilizing cob as a building material, the Dialogue Dome & Oven also feature ecoroofs that protect them from rain exposure, which can cause cob to deteriorate.

Portland State University recently added to its collection of natural buildings with the construction of a large cob bench at the Millar Library. The bench was a collaborative project between Freshman Inquiry and Senior Capstone classes, the Sustainability Group, and City Repair Project. The tiered bench is comprised of a mixture of sand, clay, and straw, and is located beneath the Millar Library awning, where it serves as a community gathering and study space.