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April
2009 | Tony Corso, Stratford
Citizens
of Del Mar are about
to be introduced and
invited to participate
in a “charrette” as
a part of downtown
(village center) revitalization.
The term “charrette” is
French for “cart” or “chariot” and
originated from the
Beaux-Arts in Paris.
It was used to describe
student architects
working furiously,
up to the last minute,
on their design presentations,
even while riding
in the school cart
(charrette) through
the streets of Paris,
en route to submit
the projects to their
professors.
The
Del Mar charrette won’t
entail carts racing
about the Community,
filled with stressed
out, frazzled students,
but will, in a more
contemporary sense,
entail an intense period
of consultation and
design activity involving
elected officials, property
owners, local residents
and urban planners.
Students will be involved
as assistants, with
fresh eyes, gathering
information, facilitating
some sessions and preparing “opportunity
maps.”
Wikipedia
defines “charrette” as
a technique or process
for consulting with
all those stakeholders
who have a concern or
interest in a particular
project or plan. It
involves intense and
possibly multi-day meetings,
a high level of community
involvement, encouraging
and recording a multiplicity
of ideas. Through widespread
participation and democratic
decision-making, it
seeks to promote joint
ownership of solutions
and diffuse confrontational
attitudes.
Specifically,
the how, when, where
and other charrette
particulars will be
formulated by an ad
hoc committee. However,
Brian Mooney, the Acting
Planning Director, offers
the following:
“Students
from the New School
of Architecture and
those studying urban
design at the University
of California are being
recruited to take part
in a course on “Form
Based Codes” which
will involve them in
the design and development
of a Del Mar charrette,
including collecting
and analyzing previous
studies, particularly
those with suggestions
for a revitalized village
center. Their work,
under the supervision
of their instructors,
will result in the design
of “opportunity
maps - graphic portrayals
of Del Mar’s
characteristics and
strengths.”
Opportunity
Maps graphically prepared
for other communities
and cities have included
such features as:
• Public
gathering places
• Important
architectural and/or
historical structures
• Development
residential patterns
and varying densities
• Open
space opportunities,
man-made and natural
• Pedestrian
walkways and corridors
• Public
transit hubs and
corridors
• Automobile
and bicycle circulation
routes and patterns
• Parking
(public and private)
• Areas
of special vegetation
e.g. shoreline vegetation
• Green
and sustainable
building techniques
• Wetlands
and other natural
habitats
• Ocean
or other scenic
views
• Vacant
or underutilized
parcels of land
• Vacant
or underutilized
commercial development
• Transects
(where different
land uses or building
types fit well or
are inappropriate)
addressing residential
neighborhood concerns |
Faculty,
students and members
of the planning
department staff
will present Opportunity
Maps during a
five day “open
house” held
to encourage citizen
participation
and involvement.
The
opportunity
maps will stimulate
a discussion
and identification
of special places,
patterns and
aspects of the
community which
ought to be
enhanced, protected,
expanded upon
or developed
to their full
potential, especially
those that serve
to create a
livable place,
a quality environment
and a sense
of local identity.
Ultimately,
the opportunity
maps will be analyzed
against community “constraint
concerns” leading
to the development
of a plan and
a “Form
Based Code” that
achieves consensus
and support in
the Community. |
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