Title
Biomimicry-inspired Material Innovation in Mongolian Gers to Combat Negative Indoor Air Quality
Abstract
Mongolia, a traditionally nomadic nation, has experienced an extreme rural-to-urban migration in the last 25 years that has placed intense strain on both the urban infrastructure and on the culture itself. Today nearly half of Mongolia’s 3 million residents live in the urban areas of its capital, Ulaanbaatar. Cultural and spiritual traditions are clung to, despite their impracticality in a new context, and there is no better example than the Mongolian ger (гэр). Gers are traditional nomadic tents- circular and framed in wood, with layered wool felt walls and floor. They are heated by a single small coal-burning stove and because of their intent to serve a migratory population, lack centralized plumbing, heating, or electricity. This is practical when following sheep or livestock around Mongolia’s vast grassland steppes, but less beneficial when settling in the closely-packed urban areas of Ulaanbaatar known as ger districts. Ger districts contrast to the planned urban center of the city and fan out over the surrounding hillsides, and are home to over 60% of the city’s population. The socio-economic factors that contributed to this urban migration have meant the newest residents of the city live in extreme poverty and struggle for stable access to clean drinking water and affordable fuel sources- often using their ger’s stoves to burn raw coal, tires, or garbage. This has created a humanitarian crisis- and a pressing need for design-based solutions to address the city’s growing air pollution problem and improve the quality of life both inside and outside the gers. In 2016 an estimated 1800 people died from diseases directly attributable to indoor air pollution and a further 1500 people died from diseases attributable to outdoor air pollution- a rate higher than 1 out of 9 deaths in Mongolia.
The Mongolian ger has 2 key components: the wooden framework and the felt cover, both of which are steeped in tradition and significance. The PhD project will study the spiritual and cultural significance of the materials used in gers, and devise a design intervention to the fibers- such as embedding an air-purifying lichen or algae into the felted wool- that will improve life within the ger, and still honor Mongolian traditions.