“The supply of trailers is not the issue. We have plenty of trailers.”
Nicole Andrews, FEMA, Feb. 6, 2006

In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, The Federal Emergency Management Agency signed $2.5 billion worth of contracts with U.S Manufacturers of Mobile Homes. These contracts, which represent the single largest order in the history of the industry, reflected the Federal Government’s objective of deploying 300,000 mobile homes in the Gulf region within a five-month period.

In short, there is no housing shortage in Post-Katrina New Orleans. The deficiency, rather, is in strategies for short-term deployment and long-term transformation. As such, thousands remain displaced, while armadas of new trailers rust in Gulf state parking lots.

In response, the FEMANATOR posits a habitable mechanism whose purpose is to provide shelter, security, services and community over time. It imagines a series of phased interventions, wherein an emergency trailer-park evolves into a stable and secure environment.

sources: FEMA, LA. Dept. of Social Services, NYTimes