A Modern Solution?

Planning’s been on my mind recently-it bloody well should be as I’m upto my eyeballs in assignments for my master, but fret not-and it’s so inevitable that whatever I learn in my classes I’ll inevitably relate it to Mongolia’s (most likely) more abysmal state of planning at present, and daydream about what I’ll do when I get back. A dangerous hobby for someone with a power complex!

It occurred to me recently that the humble Mongolian ger, or a yurt as everyone else is determined to call it, is one of the most flexible, diverse, fluid and sustainable form of housing anyone has ever seen or utilised safely. Despite its’ centuries old heritage and the lack of practical amenities such as running water and a toilet, it has continued to be used today all over Mongolia and some European countryside and camp sites calling themselves ‘boutique camp resorts.’

I say fluid because the interior is always the same in almost every ger and all Mongolians know exactly where everything goes-where you place your chest, bed and kitchen. In fact you can fit a it in there and yet there’s always space to move around and locate yourself in different parts of your home.

It’s diverse because there are many different versions of it depending on what tribe you belong to or what part of the country you live in, as well as versions by Native Americans in the USA and other types in South America. And yet, you can always instantly tell that it’s a ger, wherever you find it.

I say sustainable because you can literally pack it up in an hour and take to hundreds of kilometers away and unpack it in the same time, without doing any damage to your environment. It’s also sustainable because it’s made from natural materials that a herder can get hold of easily and use and rescue over and over again. And for a particularly creative herder, he/she can paint it lovely colours and patterns inside.

And most importantly, in my opinion, it’s flexible for so many reasons it goes beyond the word flexible. It’s a home, a school, a nursery, a guest room, an office, a travelling clinic, a hotel room, a storage room-one man’s wealth, another man’s getaway. Besides being able to plonk it pretty much anywhere, the fundamental idea of a mixed use space in planning as a discipline, the issue of community and getting people closer at a local level, the utility as basic housing and shelter, adaptability in any weather and visual amenity conditions, and the cultural significance to its end users all tick the boxes for a great solution in a planning conundrum. Surely there’s an award that this humble example of great urban design should win?! If not urban design, at least a nod from the neo-anti-capitalist-self sustaining-freegan crowd, because by using it in a modern commune type of living arrangements with water, toilet and electricity (candle lit living will suffice the hard cores) it’s bound to re-start a revolution, no?

Either way, it’s potential and currently small scale experimentation as part of an almost non-existent public housing scheme in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia has brought lots of positives. But of course with negatives too. And this is something that today’s planners can and should address.

Original and still current use 

New settings-urban sprawl and ger districts 

Modern resort