Yurts were originally designed as shelters for Mongolian and Turkish tribes that led to a nomadic lifestyle herding sheep and goats. The Turkic nomads west of Mongolia call their yurts by the name eu, oy or uy (meaning “dwelling”, or “home”). These nomads include numerous tribes inhabiting the steppe-lands from Iran in the west, as far east as Western Mongolia and south to Afghanistan.

The circular shape of the yurt is perfect for nomadic uses. The circle encompasses the greatest space possible internally for the amount of materials used. At the same time, the circular shape leaves the least amount of exterior surface exposed to the elements (thus making it more efficient to heat) and leaves fewer surfaces exposed to wind, which very naturally moves around it since there are no corners. Central and north American tribes used a similar structure called the central Asian “Ger"

The Fabric Yurt

All originally made an animal skins and found wooden posts modern yards are made of canvas and build on a frame panel.  These types of homes are becoming more and more popular as an alternate off the grid housing and Hawaii hosts some interesting variants on the yurt made from indigenous bamboo and created by Bamboo Living Homes .