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what it is...
A "charrette"* is an intensive, on-site design session involving architect and client. Increasingly in the last several years it has come to be used in the preliminary or conceptual design of urban centres or new towns; in complex projects of that kind and scope, sometimes large teams of consultants work together with clients to tackle all aspects of a problem, but a charrette can be scaled to any project size. Its concentrated time-frame and collaborative nature have several advantages. In the course of a week or weeks the working together of architect and client means that ideas are exchanged early and quickly, allowing the design concept to evolve in direct response to client and site requirements - in other words, eliminating fruitless design avenues from the outset. Being concentrated in time, a strong concept can be produced with relatively minimal cost, not taxing budget resources, while providing a guideline for future work, permitting "sounding-out" of local planning authorities, and even allowing other architects to become involved later without losing site of the core concept. Usually built into the process are sketch renderings that can be used for fund-raising, and structural and material concepts that can generate preliminary estimates. In the case of an urban or campus design, considering from the beginning the character and function of each individual building provides a realistic evaluation of a site's potential. In general, a successful charrette should generate concrete, convincing, and comprehensible proposals for real buildings, rather than ambiguous diagrams.
*referring to the cart on which 19th-century architecture students at the Ecole des Beaux Arts wheeled their final drawings to the Louvre for final judging; working "en charrette" alludes to the way students would touch up their drawings at the last minute while the drawings were being transported on the cart
... and how it works
In order to be efficient and successful, a charrette should develop according to the following sequence, after the client and David Mayernik Ltd. have agreed on its goals:
1. |
The client and/or local architect should
gather all relevant site and building surveys, building
and zoning codes, calculations of allowable building
area, and input from users of projected construction, and
then prepare a clear outline program of needs and
parameters. |
2. |
David Mayernik (and, if necessary, his
associated architects) arrives and meets with the client,
walks the site, reviews the program, and discusses design
parameters. |
3. |
David Mayernik, with the client or the
client's representative, works through rough design
strategies and defines the outlines of a solution or
solutions. |
4. |
Reviewing and honing the early solutions
with the client leads to a chosen strategy, which at this
point begins to include sketches of the buildings' volume
and character. |
5. |
The design solution is approved by the
client, and final presentation drawings are produced,
along with a written description and area
calculations. |
6. |
David Mayernik presents the final
charrette documents and discusses future steps with the
client. |
Overall, the process involves frequent client involvement early on, which diminishes somewhat as the final strategy is developed, until in step 6 the architect is solely involved in production of final documents. Additional services would include drawings and text for official planning approval, development of building concepts in greater detail, and presentation outside the core client group.
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David Mayernik Ltd Design Consulting, Internationally
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