News > Constructions in cob in Colombia

The rural zones in Colombia are characterized by constructions in cob, occupied mostly by the very poor, sometimes in great difficulties. This heritage is not at all valorized amongst the local population, and is often not maintained as it should be. As a result, these structures have become very vulnerable to the risks resulting from climate changes.

This situation is particularly serious in the south of the Cesar department where 70% of the population lives in earthen houses, while dreaming of living in stone houses.

Aware of this blocked situation, the Hacienda la Gloria, a local producer of palm oil, has decided to work together with the architect Dario Angulo of CRAterre in order to set up a revalorization program of these buildings through technical and esthetical propositions.

Several three-day trainings have been set up to reach this goal. Since 2010, 7 workshops have been organized in the communities of La Mata, Simaña, San Bernardo and Costilla, and 146 families are now housed in far better conditions.

It is very interesting to see that the occupants are now proud of their homes. And that they are now taking care of it: an improvement for sustainability and resilience of these families. As the proposed techniques are very accessible for a large public, other families are now taking care of the maintenance and thus the upgrading of their homes.