The plans that came out of the Bremerton Housing Authority’s
weeklong design charette process were affected by comments from
community members.
“Charette” is a term I don’t
find in my big red dictionary on my desk. I had to find the
definition on the Internet. It is a growing term in design and
architecture circles. Its English, or American, equivalent is
workshop, but it’s a bit more specific in that it is an intensive
set of meetings with the goal of coming up with a final design. It
is supposed to be highly collaborative, which by all accounts the
Westpark design charette was.
For me the bigger issue is
how to spell “charette.” I actually preferred the “rr” version, but
apparently the editors overrode me during the weekend. That could
be because Westpark folks themselves had handed out information
about the charette and used the “r” version. I should have known
they would go with the single “r.” Copy editors always prefer
whatever’s shorter.
The article involvement by regular folks reinforces the concept espoused by Glenn Reynolds in his book “Army of Davids.” Reynolds, who blogs at instapundit.com, is insightful, witty, and widely read. The book is a must read for those of us who blog, read blogs, and are interested in how today’s events influence tomorrow’s.