A grounded pattern language: testing a methodology for exploring cohousing residents’ involvement in shared outdoor spaces

This paper presents a ‘grounded pattern language’ developed from a study on cohousing residents’ participation in shared landscapes. Pattern languages are recognised in the fields of architecture and urban design as useful tools for documenting commonplace problem-solving ideas in an easy-to-understand format. Since their initiation by Christopher Alexander in 1977, researchers across a wide range of disciplines have adopted the use of pattern languages in research as a way of engaging participants and creating succinct, implementable outputs. However, further methodological refinement for developing a pattern language is required to address criticisms around rigour and transparency. By combining previously adopted pattern language development stages with those of grounded theory, this paper outlines a grounded pattern methodology and its application in the study of cohousing residents’ participation in shared landscapes. The paper discusses the benefits and limitations of the grounded pattern methodology as a participatory research, design and theory building tool observed during its initial testing as a card game.