A Trailer Park Pattern Language

If one gives a careful hearing to Christopher Alexander's classic work 'A Pattern Language', some questions might arise in regard to the trailer park: Why, for instance, do trailer parks always seem to elicit such fear and loathing ? And what, if anything, can be done to flip this script, to get the more middleclass homebuyer on board with living the trailer park life ?

Alexander hypothesizes, following Jay Appleton, that one's response to the immediate environment is largely hardwired. Wherever we are, there is always a running analysis taking place, not necessarily at the conscious level - out of which comes the verdict yeah or nay. The greater the sense of belonging and repose experienced the more 'positive' the space. The greater the sense of unease and alienation, the more negative. Now while this reasoning can sound a bit circular, Alexander seems right in wanting the designer to better appreciate the 'patterns', the spatial configurations of the built environment, which he believes are responsible for eliciting an either favorable or unfavorable response.

Alexander lists some 253 positive patterns, spatial configurations which include designs at the highest macro level such as cities with their subcultures (8), ring roads (17), and promenades (31), to the lowest micro level such as a house's provision for bulk storage (145), the alcove bed(188), and climbing plants (246). Now while the designer ought want to incorporate as many of these positive patterns as applicable and practical, with regard to the trailer park I have selected 3 patterns to emphasize. At the level of the house itself, Alexander offers numerous patterns as well as endorsing Frank Lloyd Wright's open plan. With Wright's open plan as the centerpiece I have added in the half open wall (193) which forms a very convenient element for both large format living room TV projector screen and smaller TV on the dining room side, built-in seats (202) in the form of a long sofa bank in the living room, and eating atmosphere (182) and sitting circle (185) by way of a long dining table with pendant lighting. Along the street is a 3 car carport with street parking for 2 or 3 more cars, in keeping with (22) which calls for dedicating 9% of a lot to parking. Just behind the carport is a weathertight space dedicated to utilities, bulk storage (145) and home workshop (157). In keeping with Wright and the smaller scale of the mobile home, bedrooms are kept small but given their own bath the better to make good on (141), a room of one's own. As well a half private office (152) is provided nearest the entrance from the street. To summarize, the first pattern I believe deserving of special emphasis is Wright's open plan - supplemented by several important but less fundamental patterns identified by Alexander.

Now two other patterns also deserve particular emphasis. First there is the question of the space between trailers. In the conventional trailer park these narrow strips are shared by two abutting trailers, each having windows and doors opening onto and into them. In consequence this area tends to be little used as well as prone to becoming a source of potential conflict: Wherever there is no clear ownership of space there is a hesitancy to use it oneself -and a resentment if it is used by someone else. This problem is best resolved, following out the pattern 'courtyards which live' (115), by making one side on the long axis of each trailer windowless and door-less so that the space between trailers affords total privacy to one of the parties. In the drawings shown, the half nearest the street is given over to utilitarian use such as parking moto scooters, storing kayaks, keeping the garbage bins, and for placing the heat pump - while the other half is configured as a narrow private garden leading back to the larger, half hidden garden in the back (111). The courtyard itself is comprised of a seating area at ground level and a raised terrace with outdoor kitchen and tables. This raised terrace (140) abuts the larger garden square - around which all trailers are placed and have access to - the one difference being that instead of being on the street, the terrace is beside and looks down on and into the garden square commons. The courtyards open onto this larger garden square commons in keeping with the pattern hierarchy of open spaces (114). This last pattern is perhaps most fundamental for our newfound vision of the trailer park: While the relation between a trailer and its immediate neighbor is that of the private courtyard, as shown below, the relation between an individual trailer and the trailer park is that of the common garden square around which all trailers are placed.

This first set of drawings is a bit schematic, coming straight from the CAD program used to draw them. Below is the product of my foray into AI rendering, a set of images created as much by the will of the machine as the will of the designer, but which by way of light, shading, reflection, and shadow hopefully convey a more immersive sense of look and feel.