Thinking back on the charette...
If you are involved in any way with land planning, design, architecture, engineering or development, you need to participate in a charette. It is an amazing process to watch a site plan become a workable entity. Working with Duany, it was important for us to follow the transect that he actually was in the process of developing during our charette. We wanted to develop a town that went from most urban to more rural and include the many visual "hints" that assist the user that he is going from an urban environment to a more rural environment. The most interesting aspect of the process was the interaction between what the best design was versus the best design that was possible given the many limitations that are put on the site. The challenge of designing communities today is to do so within the many requirements that are often at odds with the goals of new urbanism. For example, new urbanism promotes pedestrian friendly streets. This goal encourages narrow streets, on-street parking and curves to force drivers to slow down. The reality is that people don't want to slow down. The reality is that emergency services don't want to drive on narrow lanes. It was increasingly difficult to meet all the requirements and not lose the essence of new urbanism during the process. Also, one has to factor in the amount of open space or green space required, the separation requirements between the various utilities in the project and the placement of civic spaces. Personally I probably am in the minority but I am not a fan of requiring trees to be planted in islands throughout parking lots. Planners, seeking shade, require a tree every "X" number of parking spaces. Quite frankly, I think requring a certain number of trees is great but if you could get a larger section in the parking lot with several trees or encourage more of a useable urban park near the parking lot, it would be better for the trees and for the users of the space. Maybe it is a good idea to let the cars get hot in the sun...maybe people would be more willing to take mass transit...who knows?? I just think that urban parking lots need to be urban and smaller in the final footprint rather than larger than they need to be because of the island requirements. Sub-urban parking lots could have different requirements and, in my opinion, should have different requirements. In fact, there should be rules that are followed for urban spaces and rules for more rural spaces. When governments only specify one way and do not consider the profile of the area, it greatly hinders the ability to create a sustainable and enjoyable space.
Showing posts with label charrette. Show all posts
Showing posts with label charrette. Show all posts
Friday, March 6, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The Give and Take of a Charrette
After sending out numerous invitations and publicizing the meeting times, the charrette began. We were extremely pleased with the turn-out. New urbanism was a new concept to many people in this area. Haile Village Center is a nice example of traditional neighborhood design for a village, but Brytan is larger and it to be designed as a town. The difference involves providing more of the daily needs within the town boundaries. The charrette opened with a presentation by Duany where he explained many of the concepts of new urbanism. He explained the importance of pulling the buildings up to the streets, of creating vistas at the end of the streets, of on-street parking to provide a barrier between the pedestrians on the sidewalk and the vehicles on the street. Traffic calming is an important element in creating a truly walkable community. It is interesting to note that people are in favor of slowing down the traffic in a general sense but they don’t like to be slowed down in their daily commute.
The individual meetings took place with discussions of building placement and the role of neighborhood parks. Other topics included architecture and the importance of having homes that have “eyes on the street”; so many homes are designed today where once a person enters the home, he has no connection to the neighborhood until he leaves the next day. Wide front porches and windows help create a connection that serves an important role in establishing community. However, once the connection is made to the neighborhood, you have to still find a way to protect the private realm for the homeowner. Elevating the house so that windows are not at eye-level help provide privacy from the street. Also, the role of interior courtyards helps promote an outdoor private realm that homeowners can enjoy without the hassles or expense of large yards. With the increasing importance of water conservation, smaller yards are an important asset to the home. People need to be able to enjoy the outdoors so the location of recreational elements was an important feature of the overall design of the community.
Opinions were shared and designs were modified. Each day, the design would be “posted” on boards that people could stop by, review and comment. We were surprised at the number of people that truly followed this process and took the time to try and understand why a building was faced in a particular way. The design of Brytan was to be open and inviting to its neighbors, not a fenced or walled off subdivision that is frequently built. It was interesting to see how some of the neighbors wanted to be able to visit Brytan and interact with the community but others wanted to have Brytan separated and completely unconnected from their land. Through the give-and-take of the charrette process, a compromise of sorts was reached. Brytan has been designed so that future connections could be established if those neighboring groups so decided.
After a week of intensive meetings and design work, two plans emerged from the charrette. Duany wanted to tweak both plans for a bit and then allow a determination as to which one best met the overall objectives.
Remember, at this time, the regulations of our County did not allow mixing uses vertically nor were TNDs encouraged.
The individual meetings took place with discussions of building placement and the role of neighborhood parks. Other topics included architecture and the importance of having homes that have “eyes on the street”; so many homes are designed today where once a person enters the home, he has no connection to the neighborhood until he leaves the next day. Wide front porches and windows help create a connection that serves an important role in establishing community. However, once the connection is made to the neighborhood, you have to still find a way to protect the private realm for the homeowner. Elevating the house so that windows are not at eye-level help provide privacy from the street. Also, the role of interior courtyards helps promote an outdoor private realm that homeowners can enjoy without the hassles or expense of large yards. With the increasing importance of water conservation, smaller yards are an important asset to the home. People need to be able to enjoy the outdoors so the location of recreational elements was an important feature of the overall design of the community.
Opinions were shared and designs were modified. Each day, the design would be “posted” on boards that people could stop by, review and comment. We were surprised at the number of people that truly followed this process and took the time to try and understand why a building was faced in a particular way. The design of Brytan was to be open and inviting to its neighbors, not a fenced or walled off subdivision that is frequently built. It was interesting to see how some of the neighbors wanted to be able to visit Brytan and interact with the community but others wanted to have Brytan separated and completely unconnected from their land. Through the give-and-take of the charrette process, a compromise of sorts was reached. Brytan has been designed so that future connections could be established if those neighboring groups so decided.
After a week of intensive meetings and design work, two plans emerged from the charrette. Duany wanted to tweak both plans for a bit and then allow a determination as to which one best met the overall objectives.
Remember, at this time, the regulations of our County did not allow mixing uses vertically nor were TNDs encouraged.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Process begins…
We selected our town planner and now it was time for the charrette. Right? Wrong!! Now it was time to prepare for the charrette. Having never been through this process, I was completely unaware of the amount of pre-charrette planning that was required. Needless to say, it was an experience.
First, Duany worked with us to assemble the “Brytan Design Team.” This group of professionals consisted of his team from DPZ plus civil engineers, retail consultant, a residential consultant as well as local engineers, architects, surveyors and land planners. The qualifications of the local team members had to be acceptable to and approved by Duany. Bob Gibbs of Gibbs Planning Group and Todd Zimmerman of Zimmerman/Volk worked on our retail analysis and residential analysis, respectively. These men were wonderful to work with and their contribution was invaluable.
Once the Design Team was set, then our company had to gather information and materials regarding the site to allow the Design Team to prepare for the charrette. This is information that one often gets but we had never gathered all of it so early in the process. The information that we needed for the charrette included surveys, topography maps, tree surveys, floodplain information, wetland delineations, aerial photographs, soil reports, local codes and regulations and USGS maps (specifically the site and the 8 surrounding quadrants so 9 maps in total). Additionally, a place to hold the weeklong charrette had to be reserved. This place needed to include a room large enough to hold the opening and closing presentations. Fortunately, a nearby hotel and conference center was able to accommodate all of the workshop requirements. Individual meetings with neighbors, government officials, realtors, builders and other interested parties were scheduled and invitations were sent as well as notices published in the local paper. We originally had the daily work area set apart from the individual meeting areas but we learned that is not the proper way to handle the charrette process. DPZ indicated that it was extremely important for the Design Team to work in the same room where the various meetings would be held. The drafters wanted to be able to listen to the conversations, suggestions, criticisms and feedback directly from the participants. As the week progressed, it became apparent why this arrangement is so helpful to the entire charrette process.
At this point, we have the team, we have the location and now we needed the supplies. Besides a detailed list of required food for meals and snacks, there had to be an architectural supply store nearby as well as a federal express or postal service, copy center and slide processing facility. Equipment required included a specific laser jet printer, fax machine, two telephone lines, copy machine, two slide projectors, a small refrigerator, padded chairs, 3’ X 6’ banquet style tables, large trash cans and bags, twenty illustration boards, six foam-core boards, architect trace paper rolls and lots of paper.
Our office staff did a great job of organizing and working with area vendors to get all the required items. Before we knew it, we had everything and it was time for the charrette!
Next: The Charrette Begins…or does it?
We selected our town planner and now it was time for the charrette. Right? Wrong!! Now it was time to prepare for the charrette. Having never been through this process, I was completely unaware of the amount of pre-charrette planning that was required. Needless to say, it was an experience.
First, Duany worked with us to assemble the “Brytan Design Team.” This group of professionals consisted of his team from DPZ plus civil engineers, retail consultant, a residential consultant as well as local engineers, architects, surveyors and land planners. The qualifications of the local team members had to be acceptable to and approved by Duany. Bob Gibbs of Gibbs Planning Group and Todd Zimmerman of Zimmerman/Volk worked on our retail analysis and residential analysis, respectively. These men were wonderful to work with and their contribution was invaluable.
Once the Design Team was set, then our company had to gather information and materials regarding the site to allow the Design Team to prepare for the charrette. This is information that one often gets but we had never gathered all of it so early in the process. The information that we needed for the charrette included surveys, topography maps, tree surveys, floodplain information, wetland delineations, aerial photographs, soil reports, local codes and regulations and USGS maps (specifically the site and the 8 surrounding quadrants so 9 maps in total). Additionally, a place to hold the weeklong charrette had to be reserved. This place needed to include a room large enough to hold the opening and closing presentations. Fortunately, a nearby hotel and conference center was able to accommodate all of the workshop requirements. Individual meetings with neighbors, government officials, realtors, builders and other interested parties were scheduled and invitations were sent as well as notices published in the local paper. We originally had the daily work area set apart from the individual meeting areas but we learned that is not the proper way to handle the charrette process. DPZ indicated that it was extremely important for the Design Team to work in the same room where the various meetings would be held. The drafters wanted to be able to listen to the conversations, suggestions, criticisms and feedback directly from the participants. As the week progressed, it became apparent why this arrangement is so helpful to the entire charrette process.
At this point, we have the team, we have the location and now we needed the supplies. Besides a detailed list of required food for meals and snacks, there had to be an architectural supply store nearby as well as a federal express or postal service, copy center and slide processing facility. Equipment required included a specific laser jet printer, fax machine, two telephone lines, copy machine, two slide projectors, a small refrigerator, padded chairs, 3’ X 6’ banquet style tables, large trash cans and bags, twenty illustration boards, six foam-core boards, architect trace paper rolls and lots of paper.
Our office staff did a great job of organizing and working with area vendors to get all the required items. Before we knew it, we had everything and it was time for the charrette!
Next: The Charrette Begins…or does it?
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