Photo by Richard McLaughlin.

The purpose of this article is to familiarize architects, planners and designers with the design of a charrette process that will achieve valuable results. This article does not speak to the intricacy of design, but rather to the intricacies of process elements and sequence.

This article should be viewed as a point of reference—not a template. Many charrette components are included here, but not necessarily all of them. In addition, there may be several components that are not necessary to accomplish the objectives of a specific project. However, authentic public participation charrettes require participants to review existing conditions, design in context and report back their findings to the host community.

Use this outline-based article to develop a checklist of your own, whether you are planning a charrette on your own or requesting the services of experienced design and planning professionals. It is valuable for such an interactive planning process to remain flexible to the design directives that come from it. Having all the participants knowing where the slides will be shown, when dinner will be, what is the scheduled "pin-ups" agenda, who is presenting and a myriad of other arrangements, are all critical components of a successful charrette.

To navigate swiftly to specific sections of this outline, click on the key words in the menu below. You will "jump" to that section.

Charrette purpose

Objectives

Charrette components
    Mobilization
    Events
        Sample charrette schedule
        Sample citizen workshop schedule
    Charrette documentation

Sponsor responsibilities
    Public relations
    Sponsor supplies
    Administration
    Community presentation schedule
    Charrette concierge
    Food service and lodging

Ready? Let's get started.

Charrette purpose
The purpose of a charrette is to provide public and private decision-makers informed choices about new construction and redevelopment opportunities for public and private property investments. A charrette is an interactive, learning event.

Objectives
The charrette sponsor should be able to describe clearly the goals to be achieved through planning and design in action statements such as:

1. Fully examine the development potential and to prepare a focused plan for _____.
2. Produce alternative plan concepts that illustrate _____.
3. Demonstrate major infrastructure improvements, including _____.
4. Produce color plans, three-dimensional drawings and character vignettes of _____.

Charrette components

Mobilization

• Review existing plans and programs
• Coordinate with the local community's steering committee regarding:
  • Project area planning initiatives
  • Orientation to the charrette process
  • Roles and responsibilities of the steering committee and all other participants for the event's success
  • Date and schedule for the charrette
  • a framework for public relations, press releases and invitations
• Coordinate with steering committee regarding charrette preparation, including facilities, equipment, staging, food service and charrette agenda
• Collect and catalog background information
• Prepare base maps
• Prepare issues and goals framework for charrette's introduction

Events
The charrette itself includes the following activities:

• Community presentations (local government and community organizations present to design team)
• Citizen workshop (local citizens in small group discussions with design team members)
• Design sessions (design team members prepare, synthesize and prioritize planning concepts and produce graphic materials for presentation)
• Design team presentation (design team presents the charrette findings to the community)

The local community's steering committee is expected to host the charrette as a community building event. A complete schedule of its activities and responsibilities would be discussed with committee during the charrette mobilization phase.

Although the actual length of any charrette may vary, the sequence of events is the same. Below is a brief description of typical charrette activities:

Kick-off: The introduction to the charrette event is typically a public social event that may include wine and cheese (or coffee and cookies). During the kick-off, the design team is introduced to the community. Brief presentations are made by the hosts (steering committee) regarding the charrette's objectives, and the design team regarding its planning and design principles. Additional presentations may be suggested by the steering committee; however, no more than 90 minutes of the evening is spent in a presentation format.

Community presentations: On the first full day of the charrette, stakeholders (including local government officials, community leaders, business owners, development entities and others) are invited to present briefly their perspectives with regard to the charrette's objectives. The schedule for these reports is coordinated with the steering committee.

Walking site tour: It is imperative that the design team has the opportunity to see the project area and to begin to visualize its opportunities and constraints in a human scale. The steering committee is responsible for providing a "tour guide."

Citizen workshop: A sample schedule of the citizen workshop is included in this outline. This sample may be tailored to meet specific needs; however, the sequence of events and the time allotted must be maintained to effectively quantify and qualify responses of citizens. The design team will conduct the workshop. The steering committee is responsible for public relations, press releases, invitations and other announcements for this workshop.

Design sessions: Each design session may have the following tasks:

1. Preparation for citizen workshop
2. Priority tabulation from workshop: Set design objectives
3. Diagram and design schematics: Prepare for design review
4. Task assignments: Production of presentation drawings
5. Production of presentation drawings : Internal criticism (pin-up)
6. Production of presentation drawings: Photography

Design review: The steering committee and all stakeholders who gave presentations during the Day 2 Community Presentations session are invited into the charrette studio to review the work of the design team. The team presents the direction of the planning/design to date and asks for comments and suggestions.

Presentation: The presentation on the evening of Day 6 will cover the work of the design team and the methods by which they addressed the charrette's objectives. The steering committee will be responsible for announcing the presentation time and date to the community.

Sample charrette schedule

Sample citizen workshop schedule

This graphic illustrates the outcome of small-group feedback. The five groups have listed their responses to the questions and placed their "sticky dots" (designated by bullets) next to the answers they feel are most significant. An overall list of priorities (at the far right) is then generated, based on the feedback from all five small groups.

Charrette documentation

Phase I

• Prepare Executive Summary of Charrette findings for steering committee review
• Prepare detailed text of charrette findings and summary of recommendations
• Design resolution, graphic enhancement and digital photography of charrette drawings
• Meet with steering committee to present a draft of the Charrette Report and receive recommendations for preparation of the Final Charrette Report

Phase II

• Prepare document for publication
• Meet with steering committee to present Final Charrette Report in hard copy and electronic format for printing

Sponsor responsibilities

Public Relations
Publicizing the charrette should happen through three different venues:

1. Announcements in poster format, which can be placed in shop windows and on bulletin boards
2. Local public service advertising and press releases to newspapers
3. Invitations to those requiring personal attention

The more advance notification, the better the community response will be. RSVP requests should include a phone number so that any questions about who, what or where may be answered. The steering committee is also responsible for collecting RSVPs.

Sponsor supplies
The following supplies or services should be arranged by the steering committee for the charrette and presentation site accordingly.

• Projection screens (2)
• Podium, with speaker light
• Microphone/amplifier (cordless, if possible)
• Access to a copier (11 x 17 format, 50 to 200% reduce/enlarge)
• Tables
• Chairs
• Food service
• Audio-visual equipment
• Recording (video/cable, if desired)
• Building keys (if needed)
• Easels

Administration
The steering committee is responsible for assembling a database of all significant stakeholders and community leaders that includes mail, phone, fax and e-mail addresses. This listing should include all individuals presenting to the design team and be available to them before the charrette begins.

Community presentation schedule
The steering committee will be responsible for scheduling this component of the charrette . Each individual presentation should be given no more than 15 minutes to speak: 10 minutes for presentation and five minutes for questions. No more than 12 presenters and one moderator should be scheduled for the Community Presentations.

Charrette concierge
The charrette requires one person at the charrette location full-time to provide a variety of functions dedicated to the smooth operation of the event. Much of the time, the charrette concierge may simply oversee the activities. Other times, the concierge may be asked to receive visitors, retrieve information, take some film for developing, guide visitors around design team activities, or any number of similar tasks.

Food service and lodging
If the design team purchases their own meals and lodging, those costs would be billed to the client as an expense.

Typically the design team relies on the local community to provide meals and lodging. Specific meals as well as coffee, soda and water for the charrette event itself can be best scheduled and ordered in advance by local citizens. Local community businesses may wish to provide in-kind contributions to the charrette and be recognized at the concluding public presentations.

Because of the compressed timeframe, all design team members should either be able to dine at the charrette site or in a nearby restaurant, and have single-room accommodations within a short distance of the charrette site.

Editor's note: I welcome your responses to A Tornado in Reverse and How to Conduct a Charrette, part 1. After reading these two articles, feel free to e-mail me at jason.miller@homestore.com. Give me your thoughts on the articles and tell me what was missing or what you'd like to learn more about with respect to the charrette process. I will use your feedback to generate a follow-up article, How to Conduct a Charrette, part 2.

Richard McLaughlin is an architect and town planner based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is a former principal of Town Planning Collaborative of Minneapolis, and has led charrettes and community design workshops around the country. Rich's passion has been to communicate the physical, social, economic and political benefits of traditional urban development patterns and educate the public about the techniques by which they may be achieved through new construction. He is known nationally for his design and implementation of new neighborhoods at the metropolitan edge, as well as redevelopment and infill projects for mature urban neighborhoods, corridors and districts.