Just What Is a Charrette?

A charrette is an intensive, creative planning session where citizens, designers, and others collaborate on a vision for development. Public charrettes are fast becoming the preferred way to address the planning challenges that confront American cities.

Charrettes are organized to encourage the participation of all—residents, businesses, government officials, and developers. Hence everyone who participates is a mutual author of the completed plan. The ultimate goal of the charrette is to give all participants enough information to make good decisions during the planning and implementation process.

The charrette process for The Village of Spring Hill begins with the design firm—Dover, Kohl—assembling a cross-section of residents, stakeholders, government staff, and elected offi cials ahead of time to examine the unique challenges facing our community. Design Week opens with a public presentation to which all are invited. Attendees can meet the Dover, Kohl team and see a presentation on how the design process will evolve. This will be followed by an intensive hands-on workshop for participants to share their own concerns and design ideas.

The multi-disciplinary team will be set up for Design Week at 4415 Old Shell Road adjacent to BankTrust. They will collect and evaluate data, create strategies, and refine the community’s ideas to establish consensus on future direction.

At the close of the week, specifics of the conceptual master plan are unveiled for public review. Design details are documented in sketches, photos, hand-drawn renderings, computer simulations, and computer images. This work provides the foundation for creating design guidelines and implementation goals. Final plans will be submitted by Dover, Kohl to the Village in the months following.

Origins of the Word Charrette....

The term charrette (shuh-ret) is French and translates to “little cart.” In 19th century Paris, professors at the famed Ecole des Beaux Arts circulated with charrettes (little carts) to collect architecture students’ final drawings to be judged and graded. It is said that students would jump on the charrettes to add finishing touches to their presentations.