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LOW-COST HOUSING:  A YURT

A yurt is a common Mongolian circular house or tent found on
the Asian Steppes, which, instead of using a traditional
construction frame, is made with skins and poles and held
together by a rope wrapped around the circumference of the
building just below the eaves.  This binding cord holds the walls
and roofing slats much as a barrel hoop holds staves in place,
and is as rigid as any framed building.  For the Mongolians, a
yurt can be a permanent or mobile structure and was virtually the
only structure known in their nation until recent times.  "It
provides the space in which every category of person or object in
the nomad's world could be located, and so becomes a kind of
microcosm of the social world of the Mongols" (Humphrey).

    1. Advantages of a Yurt

• Low-cost.  This structure costs very little per unit area.
  A 133 square foot yurt (a moderate size room) costs only about
  six dollars per square foot, not including toilet or water
  facilities.  
• Speed in basic construction.  Time is saved in
  construction because no structural frame is necessary.  A yurt
  can be built by two people in less than a week, if extra help is
  obtained for tightening the cable.  Final furnishing and
  completion can take considerable time depending on whether a
  refined and detailed appearance is desired.
• Resilience.  The rugged and flexible structure of a yurt
  can withstand the shock from earthquakes better than buildings
  with concrete foundations.
• Ease of maintenance.  The yurt has a simple design and
  requires little maintenance.  All areas of the building are
  easily accessible.
• A fairly snug and rain-proof structure.  A yurt does not
  have complicated corners like geodesic domes.  Overhanging eaves
  can be constructed to protect the siding.
• Spaciousness.  The design of the yurt gives the illusion
  that interior spaces are larger than they actually are.  This
  sense of spaciousness may be due to the unusual interior shape of
  the structure and to the skylight as a source of natural
  lighting.
• Appealing.  The yurt structure has a interesting and
  attractive appearance.
• Multiple Use.  It is ideal for dwellings and other
  shelters, especially for visitors, campers, and worship or quiet
  space.
• Adaptable.  The design is adaptable to any culture.  While
  this building is Asian in concept and appearance, it fits in well
  with American landscapes.

    2. Addressing Negative Perceptions

    Spatial Restrictions.  One objection raised about the yurt
is that the building cannot accommodate traditional rectangular
and square furniture.  This can be overcome by using cushions,
floor enclosures, wall seats, shelves, futons and bed mattresses
which fit the contour of the walls to replace traditional chairs,
closets, sofas and beds.

    Peer Pressure .  What will the neighbors say?  Peer pressure
is influential, dictating a similar style of architecture from
Alaska to Florida.  Yurt owners dare to be different.  Neighbors
might learn to admire the yurt and be encouraged to be more bold
and creative, themselves.  However, alternative housing is not
commonly respected in the United States.

    Lack of Window Space.  A more substantial criticism is that
there is not enough space for windows in the lower portion of the
yurt.  While the skylight can provide a lot of light and air, an
additional window could be cut in the door if desired.  It is
also possible, though difficult, to insert windows in the walls.
If more outside space is desired, a porch or patio could be built
next to the yurt.

    Intensive Labor.  A final objection raised regarding yurts
is that the amount of work per square foot for construction can
be quite high.  While this may be true, the work is not
particularly heavy and does not require nearly the degree of
expertise necessary for framing a conventional house.
Furthermore, the great savings are in materials.  Yurts are
generally favored more by those seeking a communal, voluntary,
two-person work trading, or do-it-yourself building operation.

    3. Variety in Yurt Design

    The yurt is generally a single room in which the inner
circle gives a unity to the structure and allows for a feeling of
wholesomeness and well-being.  It is a quiet, creative and gentle
space with none of the harshness of square-cornered buildings.
It is ideal for reflection and retreats.  The single circular
enclosed space has an advantage which can only be understood by
experiencing it.  Having said this, variety can be added by
enlarging the enclosed space, partitioning walls and building
concentric inner circles as turrets within the upper center of
the yurt space.  These design modifications can be as elaborate
as one might choose.



   
               --------  design  ---------


    While Mongolians make yurts from hides, poles and ropes,
more easily acquired native materials can be substituted.  ASPI
constructed its yurt using local rough-cut pine boards for the
walls and recycled steel cable to support the structure.  For the
roof, we first followed a design from The Yurt Foundation, which
was made from plywood (a non-local product).  It was beautiful
and allowed for small triangular windows in each of the eave
sections, but it did not survive the weather.  A second similar
roof was destroyed in an extremely severe wind storm.  A third
roof was designed using local pine slat byproducts of the wood
fencing post industry.  These slats were interwoven into a very
sturdy and lasting roof that has withstood the weather and cost
about a tenth as much as the plywood roof.

    4. Uses of Yurts
     
    Yurts, if well designed and of adequate size, can be used
for private residences .  However, they can also be used in many
other applications -- as a meditation room (or hermitage), an
adjunct bedroom, office, guest room, tool room, chapel, pavilion,
recovery ward, tree-house, trail shelter, or quiet getaway space.
Yurts can be multi-functional: they can be used for campers
during one part of the year, for more permanent residents at
another;  they may be used for worship or meditation and still
used as overflow housing.

    5. Construction Hints

• Choose the site well, making use of sun, overlook vistas
  and windbreaks.  You may want the yurt shady and airy to provide
  relief from hot muggy summers when it is used more often;  
• Foundation posts (treated pine, termite resistant wood or
  steel pipe) should be used around the edge with one in the
  center.  Use 2x 6 framing boards with filler blocks for making
  the curvature of the platform's outer edge.
• Flooring can be insulated using a double flooring
  platform, with a one-quarter inch plywood lower portion and a
  three-quarter inch plywood upper portion.  The finished platform
  could be built outside and carried onto the posts and frame.
• Wall boards should be precut and should include inner ones
  and outer planks with insulation sandwiched in between.  The
  outer wall will stretch from the eave to the bottom of platform
  and will be slightly more than 10 inches longer than the inner
  ones.  The inner boards are toe-nailed to the floor about two
  inches in from the platform's edge in a stepped fashion, and
  propped up so that the cable can be wrapped around and tightened.
  This difficult operation may require additional people.
• The cable is the key to yurt stability, binding the
  structure under the eaves and holding the walls in place.  A 3/8
  inch galvanized steel cable makes a good durable yurt cable.
  This can be held in place by iron ring nails or steeples and
  clamped after tightening using cable clamps.
• There are a number of designs for roofs.  The skylight is
  the major feature of the roof so an aperture must be left for
  this.  The ASPI yurt roof is made of 4-inch flexible pine slats.
  They were nailed to the rafter boards running from the wall top
  to the center of the peaked roof with a boxed aperture.  Heavy
  rolled tar paper is placed over the slat roof.  The beauty of the
  roof depends on the number of ribs or rafters employed.  More
  ribs give the yurt roof a more rounded look.  
• The skylight is made in quarters and fitted using double-
  glazed Plexiglas.  Windows may be added to the sides if desired,
  but would have to be custom-made given the shape of the building.
  

If the building is fitted for winter or cooler weather, more
care should be taken in caulking windows and final door frames
and in use of insulation between the outer and inner walls, floor
and below the roof.  Some prefer a spring, summer, and fall
building with some insulation and leave it unheated and
unoccupied in winter.  Winterizing the yurt may require placing a
chimney in the structure.  

    Note:  Except for possible roof problems, the yurt is
essentially maintenance-free.  

                   RESOURCES AND REFERENCES

    For detailed construction instructions write to William S.
Coperthwaite, The Yurt Foundation,  Bucks Harbor, Maine  04618.  

Humphrey, Caroline.  "Mongolian Yurts"  New Society.  October 31,
1974.

Shelter  Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1990.   (P.O. Box 7123
Berkeley, CA  94707)

Hatton, E. M.  The Tent Book  Houghton Mifflin, 1979.

Shelter II  Bolinas, CA: Shelter Publications, 1978.  (P.O. Box
279  Bolinas, CA  94924)