Ger (Yurt in English / Russian) is a traditional house built and used by Mongol nomads since time immemorial. A round wooden-framed felt tent covered in durable white canvas seems to be the most simple description of this portable home.
The Mongols have traditionally used the Ger as their dwelling in every season whether it is winter, rain, spring or summer. The Ger is made of sheep’s wool covering over a semi circular parabola like structure of wood. It has one entrance and an opening in the centre of the roof for the smoke duct and for natural light to come in. The floor is made up of wooden planks on which Ger is built upon. Every Ger has a traditional fire place which doubles as a heating system and an oven.
For Mongolian society, Ger is an excellent house which is
1) Moveable
2) Made entirely of naturally available materials and
3) Weather proof.
That is the reason why even in the 21st century housing of concrete, glass and steel, there is a large number of people still living in Gers in Mongolia. In Mongolia there are several families who find shelter in Gers whether they are in countryside or the city.
But there is one important issue which is of concern to all Ger dwellers. All traditional Gers lack any sanitation facility. This makes the life of people who live in Gers very difficult and unsafe health wise. Ger dwellers have to go to outside public toilets for sanitary purposes. These toilets lack minimum health and hygiene standards. They lack proper waste disposal facilities and are generally covered dry toilets.
Mongolia where the temperature reaches freezing values for a long part of the year, using these public toilets becomes very difficult especially for children and woman during long winter. The traditional Gers also do not have any washing or cleaning facility inside them. Therefore many people who live in Gers are prone to communicable and infectious diseases because of lack of hygiene.
After 25 years of research Mr Davaasuren came up with the idea of Modern Ger.
He built 6 prototypes of Modern Gers in his tourist resort at Terelj with modern sanitation facilities. Each Ger is equipped with a toilet and bath underground. The toilets have flush toilets with western seats, a bathing tub and a wash basin. There is a stairway going underground from inside of Ger to the toilet. There is also a washing and cleaning sink inside the Ger for washing hands, some plates and dishes etc. All of this is available inside the Ger.
This type of modern Ger makes living in it very safe and comfortable for the dwellers, apart from preserving the unique tradition of Mongol architecture.
Watch this Video to know more
The Modern Ger 