Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia College of Environment and Design’s Center for Community Design and Preservation in conjunction with the Fanning Institute will conduct a community design charrette in the Hyde Park neighborhood in Augusta on Oct.17 – 19 at the Jenkins Clara Head Start Center on 101 Dan Bowles Rd. It will be open to the public from 9 a.m. – noon on the Oct. 18.
Funded by Georgia Environmental Protection Division and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the charrette is a rapid, intensive and creative work session in which a design team focuses on a particular design problem and arrives at a collaborative solution. The community charrette format brings diverse talents and resources together to help town citizens and leaders create a vision for community improvement. The Hyde Park neighborhood called on the faculty and students from the College of Environment and Design and the Fanning Institute for assistance.
“Charrettes give students ‘on the ground’ training that does not often come in the classroom or studio. It exposes them to real life issues in their rawest form and introduces them to the parts of Georgia that few of them would ever visit or learn about. It is a field lab, clinic, and home away from home all in one-the perfect teachable moment,” said Pratt Cassity, CCDP director. “What comes out of a charrette are the ideas and dreams of residents, filtered through design and urban planning professionals who understand how to turn an idea into real community improvements.”
As the public service and outreach arm of the College of Environment and Design, the Center for Community Design and Preservation is a one stop shop for technical services in community design, local preservation and cultural resource management. Request for services and examples of previous charrette and other community-based projects can be found at www.ced.uga.edu.
