Yurt Building Workshop in Vermont 2011

YURT BUILDING WORKSHOP AT SPIRIT HOLLOW, SHAFTSBURY, VT

GET A HANDS ON EXPERIENCE OF BUILDING A COMPLETE YURT, FRAME, COVER AND YURT RAISING IN TWO DAYS THAT GIVES YOU THE KNOWLEDGE TO

BUILD YOUR OWN DREAM YURT.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, FRIDAY 6 PM TO SUNDAY 4 PM, MAY 27-29

Yurts have sheltered people since Heradotus wrote histories 2000 years ago. With minimal woodworking skills, a home of complex and magical beauty can be made at an amazingly modest cost, (roughly one tenth of the cost of a Yurt kit). In this workshop, you will gain an experience that will allow you to make your own yurt of any size and any design. This course will lead you through building walls, door frames, rafters, roof rings, roof ring supports, domes, tension bands and coverings. You will gain an experience that will allow you to make your own yurt that meets your needs and matches your dreams.

Bruce Sargent, workshop leader, has built yurts and authored books and articles on yurt building and led workshops and classes about building your own do-it-yourself yurt. He has sought the simplest and most direct methods of yurt construction to create designs that anyone can build. He has shared his studies in workshops in Vermont at Spirit Hollow, Yestermorrow, and Hunger Mountain Food Coop and at his blog http://www.forloveofyurts.blogspot.com. The workshop will build a yurt in a magical two days, course work developed at Yestermorrow in two workshops last summer. Bruce has authored a book on yurt building, For Love of Yurts, Building an Ultra Simple Yurt for Under $1000, published by Shires Press in Manchester VT, a book that some reviewers have felt inspires those who would build their own yurt to have one.

Workshop Objectives

To learn how to build an ultra simple, green, sustainable yurt
To learn simple power and hand woodworking skills necessary to build a yurt
To experience the magic of wall rods, under tension, shaping walls
To experience the ease and joy of lifting the roof ring skyward and fitting rafters to ring and wall
To see how a yurt cover plays with light
To gain a knowledge that allows you to create your own yurt

Suggested Reading

King, Paul. The Complete Yurt Handbook. Eco-Logic Books, www.eco-logicbooks.com
Mulberry House. Maple Grove, Bath BA2 3AF, UK, 2007
Kuehn, Dan Frank, Mongolian Cloud Houses. How to Make a Yurt and Live
Comfortably. Shelter Publications, PO Box 279, Bolinas, California 94924, 2006
Lokey, Charles. Practical Mathematics in Yurt Design; A Detailed Discussion Following
Project GRAD Kenai Peninsula, Summer Learning Institute, www.math.montana.edu/~lokey/YurtMath.pdf, 2004
Sargent, Bruce W. For Love of Yurts, Building an Ultra Simple Yurt for Under $1000, Shires Press, 2009 www.forloveofyurts.com. Stronach, David. On the Antiquity of the Yurt: Evidence from Arjan and Elsewhere. University of California, Berkeley. http://www.silk-road.com/newsletter/2004vol2num1/yurt.htm

Materials to Bring

• Hearing and eye protection
• Shoes
• Tape measure
• Hand saw or hand jig saw
• Knife
• Scissors
• Rasp
• Hammer
• Hand drill, brace, bits or cordless drill
• Pencils
• Note book
• Calculator
• Sleeping bag and mattress pad
• Cup, bowl and spoon
• Pot luck food

Course Outline

Friday evening check-in 6-6:30 PM

Friday Evening Class 6:30-8:30 PM

• Sharing hopes and dreams, discussing the history of yurt designs, looking at the math behind the plans, learning of traditional practices, viewing the weekend schedule and considering safety demanded by the project.

Saturday Morning

• Constructing wall rods, assembling into V's, and assembling V’s into wall sections
• Constructing a door frame
• Constructing a tension band

Saturday Afternoon

• Constructing rafters
• Constructing roof ring

Saturday Evening

• Questions and answers discussion. A time for expanding individual experience that will lead to building one’s own yurt.

Sunday Morning

• Constructing dome and dome fitting
• Cutting and assembling roof ring supports
• Raising the yurt

Sunday Afternoon

• Cutting and joining covering materials
• Covering the framework
• Lashing the covering to supporting ropes and to anchor stones
• Reflecting on that we have accomplished: the nearly impossible feat of making and putting up a yurt in two days, and the wonderful knowledge that hands-on, materials based education has provided for you. Finish at 4 PM

To save on costs meals (Breakfast 8-8:45, Lunch 12-12:45, Supper 5:30-6:15) are pot-luck, so plan accordingly. Simple is good here. Classes are Mornings 9-12, Afternoons 1-4, Evenings 6:30-8:30. Overnight by camping in communal yurts, in your own tent or by staying in nearby motels.

We are asking $225 to $185 on a sliding scale from students to meet workshop costs. You decide where you are on the sliding scale. Work-study half-tuition is available if you request and show need. It couldn't be more fair than that, wouldn't you agree? Enrollment is Limited and we are asking for a deposit of $75 by May 15 to hold your place. Register on line at http://www.spirithollow.org/wordpress/?page_id=21 or telephone Spirit Hollow at 802-447-3895. If you have any questions about the workshop details contact Bruce Sargent at forloveofyurts@gmail.com or at 802-839-8497.

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