Mongol Yurt Graces Harvard Lot On Site of New Education Library

As his contribution to the Cambridge skyline, William S. Coperthwaite, a first-year student at the Graduate School of Education, has built a yurt.

Coperthwaite built the circular wooden structure on University property near Larsen Hall at a cost of about $450. Ed School students who plan to take non-credit craft courses in the building are helping Coperthwaite finance the project.

Coperthwaite said he saw some pictures of Mongol huts called yurts, most of which are made of skins, in National Geographic a few years ago. He then adapted them to America's climate and building materials. "I call it a yurt out of appreciation to the Mongols," he said.

The School of Education's approval of his proposal to build the yurt surprised and pleased him, and the reaction of the staff and students to the unusual structure has been favorable, Coperthwaite said. William J. Reilly, business manager of the Ed School said, "It would certainly solve my space needs if I could put up a few."

Scratch One Yurt

Harvard is likely to lose its one yurt, however, before it gains any others. The Administration has announced plans for a $6 million School of Education library research center on the yurt site.

The 300,000 volume library will have five stories, four above ground and one below. In addition to bookstacks, the library will contain an audiovisual center, discussion rooms, individual study areas, and faculty offices. The library will accommodate more than 800 students and faculty.

The exterior will be of bronzed glass and sandblasted poured concrete. A sunken court will surround the building on three sides.

Financed by gifts from individuals, foundations, and corporations, the library is to be completed by 1971. The Administration hopes to begin construction in late this spring.

Since the yurt sits on a foundation of stakes, it could be moved at that time a suitable location can be found.

Coperthwaite sees his interest in yurts as a natural outgrowth of his desire to develop low-cost housing and his belief that people should learn to work with their hands. "People don't usually get the pleasure of making their own food, clothing, and shelter," he said. "People who are going out to teach kids, especially, should develop their own hand skills so they can encourage the kids," he added.

Coperthwaite built yurts earlier in California, Maine, and Alaska, and is now living in a yurt he built in Westwood. One of his students built one at Cornell and lived in it for four years.

Coperthwaite tries to simplify the technique of yurt-construction continually, with the goal of making it possible for anyone to build one.

Four skilled workers can put up a yurt like Harvard's in two days, Coperthwaite said. Power tools were used only in cutting boards for the roof. "It's the cheapest way to cover this area of land permanently," he said.