This project proposes a design for community intervention, based on vernacular architecture in Bayan-O’njuul, Töv, Mongolia [46°55’01.6″N 105°53’10.5″E]. The site is located within the dry steppe, cold arid [BSk] which has a very extreme seasonal and daily temperature ranges, with low and irregular precipitation.The specific area of interest within the site region is the Zorgol Khairkhan mountain, which is a sacred mountain next to the Princess Lake.
Within this proposal, there will be a focus on how a community may be built with a shared sensibility in an isolated landscape with very few permanent inhabitants and lack of materials. This project will attempt to suggest a solution by proposing an alternate design system of adapted vernacular building. Tourists and participants of the pilgrimage are involved in the act of building this new 20-people contemplation space by bringing found or local materials as part of their ritual. The space will engage in traditional practices rooted within the landscape, and invites people to move away from permanence and excess and engage in the local form of shared nomadic living.