Charrettes Combine Planning and Design with Public Forum for Feedback and Support

Brian Hendrickson, Principal of 180° Design Studio, partnered with Daryl Rantis Architects and the University of Missouri to actively engage the public through a charrette. The charrette process combines a creative, intense work session with public workshops and open houses at critical decision-making points. It is a collaborative planning process that harnesses the talents and energies of all interested parties to create and support a feasible plan that represents the public's collective input on design. This charrette was for planning and designing ERIC, the university's Educational Resource and Innovation Center.

Here, Brian talks about the building vision for ERIC.

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For more information about University of Missouri Extension’s ERIC visit, http://extension.missouri.edu/cooper/eric

What is a Charrette?

The core of our approach to urban design is the public charrette process. A charrette is a brief but intense design workshop in which stakeholders and interested citizens are invited to contribute to the work of an interdisciplinary team of planners and designers during the earliest stages of planning.

180° Design Studio is the only firm in Kansas City that has run a true, multi-day, multi-disciplinary public design charrette, according to the standards of the National Charrette Institute.

Our seven-day charrette for the complex and controversial New Longview Development in Lee’s Summit garnered a standing ovation by the 300 people in attendance at the final presentation. That process has since been suggested as a model by the Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City, the Mid-America Regional Council, and the Historic Kansas City Foundation, which issued a Proactive Preservation award for the process.