Fusion of Open Space & Charrette
Birgitt Williams
birgitt at mindspring.com
Thu Feb 19 16:08:52 PST 2004
The actual turnaround time for the landscape architect design back to the
client after the OST meeting was only 40 days (incredible when compared to
the two years it usually took). When the client was presented with the plan,
95% of it was immediately approved (again almost unheard of in that
industry). To read about the OST process that was designed for Virginia to
do her magic as a landscape architect, go to
http://www.openspacetechnology.com/articles/landscape.html The article has
a lot of tips on how to design an OST meeting when a specialty such as a
landscape master plan is to be the end product. In this situation, the
Military were the client, AND Virginia was my client. If the OST meeting had
not generated enough data for Virginia to do her work, she would have been
in difficulty with her client, the Military because she would have been
unable to deliver on our promise of a quick turn around time.
Two years after this OST meeting and the final approved landscape master
plan, I was leading a workshop in another part of the country. Michael (a
participant) said he had a story to tell. He told us that when he was
getting ready to attend the workshop, he explained where he was going to his
elderly father, assuming his father would not be able to grasp OST
(especially since his father was a very traditional military man who liked
order). As Michael was explaining to his father, the father said "I know
what this OST is. I was in one of those meetings at the military college.
And it sure produced results." Michael then told us that a few weeks before,
his father had been the one to lead the military parade in the opening
ceremony of a new archway on the property---the master plan for the
landscape had been followed and Michael's father was very proud of it all,
including his participation at the meeting where they came up with all the
ideas. And he was full of praise for the efficiency of the process of OST to
get them where they needed to go, and without conflict.
Birgitt
-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]On Behalf Of Harrison
Owen
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2004 8:45 AM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Fusion of Open Space & Charrette
Some time ago, Virginia Burt, a Landscape Architect from Canada began the
practice of using Open Space as the introductory element for her
consultations with clients. Initially, she did this with Birgit Williams,
and I am not sure whether she continues the practice – but her stories were
marvelous. I remember in particular one in which Virginia had the assignment
to do the park/garden for a/the Canadian Military College, This was a large
project covering multiple acres, and apparently it had been under intense
discussion for years, and not very productively. As I recall, she said that
is was normal to spend several years on a project with multiple changes and
no small amount of hard feelings all around. With Open Space, the design
time shrank to 6 months with few if any changes. And changes in design, once
the project has started are what drive everybody crazy, if only because they
inevitably drive up costs and time required to produce a finished product.
Harrison
Harrison Owen
7808 River Falls Drive
Potomac, Maryland 20845
Phone 301-365-2093
Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
Personal website http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm
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-----Original Message-----
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Zelle
Nelson
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 11:39 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: Fusion of Open Space & Charrette
Hello,
My experience with Open Space and an architect/design project is actually
from a project I worked on with BP in Scotland. The 60 person business unit
I was working with was moving from one part of the building complex to
another (most would agree the space they were moving into was the worst
space in the building). I started with an Open Space Visioning meeting where
in addition to the usual markers and paper for Open Space I added magazines
(design, nature, home furnishings, etc.) a big roll of paper, scissors, and
glue. I invited the group to talk about what they envisioned the ideal work
space to be and to cut out pictures from the magazines, use words, and
pictures to create a collage of what the new space might feel like.
We took this collage, along with the results from the Open Space and
shared this with the architects and designers (the designers/architects were
invited to be at the visioning Open Space) assigned to the project. Some
incredible ideas that I could never have thought of on my own, along with
the many concerns about moving to "the worst space in the building" were
folded into the design process which also took into account budget
constraints and site needs/requests.
The design team then came back with a design for the new work space (which
included skylights and a "yellow brick road" gleaned from the first Open
Space). We took these sketches/blue prints and went back into Open Space
with cut out furniture options and pencil and paper. Each team then looked
at the areas available and filled in the design details specific to their
needs. Conversation and negotiation took place between the different teams
and a consensus design was reached.
The final result was an exceptional work space that was loved by the
business unit and the "worst space" in the building is now considered the
best place to be.
Along the way, I worked with individuals and teams around learning how to
create places that work for them instead of trying to fit into someone
else's design. I gave them, tools and a language to find the best mix
between personal and team needs.
I have a digital story (mini movie) which describes the process and the
transformation in more detail. If you would like to see that I could send it
to you. You could also visit my website www.knowplacelikehome.com to find
out more.
Hope this helps.
With Grace and Love,
Zelle
************
Zelle Nelson
Know Place Like Home/State of Grace Document
zelle at knowplacelikehome.com
office - 828.693.0398
mobile - 847.951.7030
Isle of Skye
2021 Greenville Hwy
Flat Rock, NC 28731
Chris Macrae wrote:
If I am digesting the correspondence correctly,
I can start to feel a kaleidoscopic experience of all my favourite
explorative tools connecting people's visual sensing with the physical:
Open Space
The Charrette's special competence to keep visual notes of proceedings in
each of the expert's deliverable formats and in an open way for all
participants
Pattern Rules - a human wisdom banking idea from architecture I love
wow if we could get the public talking to architects talking to engineers
talking to policy makers through such an open train of methods, the
environmenst we live in could be wholly different
Has anyone tried linking with experts in knowledge-cities and their social
capitals-
This is a very hot concept emerging in knowledge management, and for some
reason KM/SC people seem to get research funds and spaces many of us don't
(or maybe we dont need the burden of such funds).
chris macrae
PREVIOUSLY
Most charrette facilitators are architects who have learned their
"facilitation" skills in the trenches and have no separate training in
conflict resolution, mediation, facilitation, etc. I have been trying to
bridge the two fields, as I think they have a lot to learn from each other.
A short essay I wrote about this ( Hurley, Jennifer. 2003. "The Public
Process and New Urbanism", Research Report for the Knight Program in
Community Building, University of Miami School of Architecture.) is
available at http://www.hfadesign.com/newsroom/publications.html. Here's the
quick summary:
What Can Charrette Practitioners Learn from Consensus-Building? By
learning from the experience of mediators and facilitators, charrette
organizers could leverage the event to create more support for the results
of the charrette, resulting in more faithful implementation. Key aspects
that charrette organizers could learn from consensus-building: € A robust
theoretical basis for practice can inform the understanding of the process
and suggest possibilities when problems arise. € Situating the charrette
event in a larger decision-making framework that includes pre-charrette
outreach and post-charrette consensus-building increases the chances of
implementation. € Using the charrette to aid group learning and build civic
capital would leverage the event to develop local leaders who can champion
the plan long after the event. € Charrette organizers could adopt specific
skills from mediators and facilitators, including stakeholder analysis, the
use of ground rules, neutral mediation/facilitation, agenda-setting, and
consensus-building techniques.
What Can Charrette Practitioners Add to Consensus-Building?
I have focused this article on describing what I think charrette
organizers can learn from consensus-building. However, I also believe that
charrettes are a technique that discussion-based mediators and facilitators
should learn
about:
€ Charrettes are a great improvement over discussion-based processes for
addressing physical and design issues. Words are a cumbersome medium when
the problem is visual. € The compressed time frame of a charrette creates
incredible excitement and momentum. In contrast, discussion-based processes
can take months, if not years, and are often tedious and sometimes downright
painful.
The last two points touch on Chris's question:
So that's why I am asking is their a specific charrette focus that olnly
expert charrette people buld in?
They key is that charrettes have architects, designers, engineers, and
other technical experts working on site to create a plan using drawings.
There's a specific product expected at the end of the week-long charrette.
I think a one- or two-day OS would be a wonderful way to start a charrette
(perhaps taking the place of more structured "stakeholder" meetings).
Jennifer
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