Charrette

Charrettes are periods of intense work towards a design solution and presentation deadlines are used to quickly and collaboratively generate design products, often alongside those who will ultimately use the built product of design. Teamwork and efficiency are critical in the process, especially in design studios and intense workshops. This collaboration process aims groups of designers toward achieving solutions in a short period of time . Extension LA routinely employs charrettes for projects involving community partners, students, and LAEP faculty. The Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Charrette is an annual, week-long, all-department collaborative design process that helps communities work toward solutions to real-life design problems. It gives students hands-on experience working with real clients, mentored by faculty and professionals. Each year, the department selects a site suitable for the design charrette. This is usually done at the request of communities that need the expertise the Landscape Architecture department provides. The department divides into teams with specific focus topics, such as open space, historic corridors, transportation, revitalization of the downtown, etc. Students and faculty do a site visit and use their skills and knowledge to develop creative solutions to the design challenges. After a week of creative problem-solving, students present their work to the client and discuss with them the solutions they derived from the design charrette. These charrettes provide students with valuable work that can be showcased in their portfolio as an example of their capabilities.