A Yurt for any Season

Yurts are domiciles built with portability in mind. Traditional construction involves a circular wooden frame upon which a felt covering is placed. The felt cover aids in the structure’s stability and provides most of the cover – the felt reasonably attainable in areas where wood can be scarce and more expensive to procure.

The Turkic version of the yurt involves bent poles within the frame, allowing them to serve both as the tops of walls and the roof. There is a roof ring, but it is light and does not require supports. In contrast, the Mongolian roof poles are straight, and the central roof ring is heavier, requiring internal supports which cuts down on interior space to some degree. The roof ring of the Mongolian yurt is more difficult to fabricate than the Turkic version, requiring a carpenter with at least moderate skill. In older Kazakh communities the roof ring would be passed down from father to son, and the family’s longevity measured by the amount of stains left on the ring by smoke throughout its years hanging over the cooking fire.

The idea of the yurt has passed from the east to the modern west, but the buildings there are substantially less portable and quite a bit more complicated. A western, modern yurt might include such building materials as steel aircraft cables, canvas and architectural fabrics. As wood is not a scarce commodity when building these versions more of it may be used – certainly fabric becomes less and less important for structure. The yurt of the modern west is built not out of necessity, but as a statement of environmental sustainability and simplicity. Of course this is only true if it is not built with expensive, heavy woods and other lavish materials as some modern yurts are, resulting in a simple and elegant appearance, but in a luxurious reality.