The Envisioning Process by DPZ CoDESIGN

A charrette is a series of intensive planning sessions where citizens, stakeholders and designers come together to collaborate on a vision for development. The charrette’s dynamic and inclusive process, with frequent presentations, is a fast method of identifying and overcoming obstacles. The shared experience will help vest interest in the future of Three Corners and build support and consensus among Vero Beach community members so they have a clearer set of what is and what is not possible on the site moving forward.

 The Three Corners Charrette began with a kick-off presentation by DPZ CoDESIGN founding partner, Andres Duany, on November 19, 2019 at city hall and will culminate in a week-long series of public meetings beginning January 27 to January 31, 2020. See schedule here.

 Multiple scenarios based on the Five Scenarios will be at the heart of the discussions. There will be two formal public presentations at the beginning and at the end of the week. In addition, there will be more informal pin-up sessions in between so that there are daily opportunities for attendees to learn of the latest discussions and important updates.

 For the January charrette, the design team will set up a full working office at The Vero Beach Community Center located at 2266 14th Avenue, complete with all the drafting equipment, supplies, computers, copy machines, etc. Formal and informal meetings open to the public and modeled on the Five Scenarios will summarize the evolution of the design scenarios over the course of the week.

 Three tools most effective in aiding decision-making are the language of words, the language of numbers and the language of drawings. Most planners convey their ideas primarily with the first two languages; however, this charrette requires a language of drawing at a high level. The array of development ideas can only be properly analyzed and vetted based on the quality of the scaled plans, 3-D illustrations and other tools to permit a robust and fair assessment. The main point is that all ideas should be given an opportunity to exist in drawing form so they can be properly evaluated.

 At the conclusion of the charrette week, a report summarizing the week, the key issues discussed, main takeaways from public discourse, and revised versions of the Five Scenarios will be submitted to City Council containing the following:

 Illustrative Master Plan: Highly descriptive (not diagrammatic) drawn to scale and rendered in color. Each shall depict at a broad level, the disposition of any land uses being proposed, the incorporation/removal/redesign of any existing infrastructure, the resolution of access and circulation, the schematic delineation of new amenities and landscaped spaces, and the integration of the above with the surrounding context.

 Annotated Master Plan Details: Highlighting key features of the illustrative master plan in selected close-ups, as required for clarity.

 3-D Illustration: One hand-drawn and colored aerial rendering (per scenario) supplemented by computer generated eye-level views as needed

 Analytical Planning Diagrams: Open/green space and building footprints, vehicular and pedestrian networks, and parking, among others.