Trailer Treasure
- Posted by: YvonnePuig
- on November 27, 2007 at 5:32 pm
The trailer park—that ubiquitous, often dreary fixture of the American landscape—is about to get a makeover. As part of a project called TrailerWrap, Michael Hughes, an architect and professor at the University of Arkansas, has converted a traditional mobile home at the Mapleton Trailer Park in Boulder, Colorado, into a light-filled, beautiful space.
To Hughes, trailer parks offer an architectural opportunity to address questions of affordable housing. And he believes that trailers simply make sense as high-density alternatives to suburban sprawl. But first, they need to be made into attractive living spaces. “This is refabricated housing,” Hughes says. “What does it mean to have light pouring into your home, with nine-foot instead of seven-foot ceilings? We wanted to highlight what’s possible even on a small house.”
LEARN MORE
trailerwrap.net
COST
The TrailerWrap trailer will be sold for $40,000 to the winner of a lottery (though only needy recipients can enter).
DISCUSSION: 2 Comments
I’m very impressed with the final house and the concept of a high-density alternative to suburban sprawl–would love to live there myself–but I question how much this is a “re-fabrication” of the existing trailer, since it was stripped down to the chassis and a significant portion of the trailer was still sent to landfill. Very strong architectural concept, nonetheless.
I note that the costs of the project, including the value of donated goods and services, are not disclosed. Typical.