Community Centers, Clubhouses, Church spaces... Campgrounds, Barns, Circus Tents...
A live, formal charrette would probably be best served in a community center or a club-house that has a kitchen and tables and chairs to accommodate about 100 people. Since this is a serious mental workout, provide finger food for athletes with whatever is considered “brain food” at the time - hard-boiled eggs, boiled new potatoes, fresh fruit and vegetables, cold cuts, power bars, jerky and so forth that people can easily access during one of the breaks.
Spirits should probably be discouraged. Substitute water, fruit juices, kombucha, coffee and tea, for instance.
Emphasize savories over sweets and make them available all day long.
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This is where a community or municipality can plan for a disaster, figure out its water source or the homeless issue, do risk-assessment on local policy issues. It’s equally important that people are sitting close together making eye contact because the time spent together allows for new opportunities for friendship or partnering up over a civic project, business co-op, a land trust or perhaps a partner in life.
Chatrooms, Zoom, FaceTime
One hardly needs to get out of bed to hold a virtual charrette, and the audience could be global. Convene a support group, for instance.
Jurys and Boardrooms
When time is money...guilty or not...why? Who wants to tell the President?
Classrooms
Ideal for tests and planning projects.
Neighborhoods, Living Rooms, Dining Rooms, Garages
A board game would be fun here, yet to be created. How can we influence public policy?
Personal Decisions
Should I buy this car, or that truck? Should I accept this job? Should I sign this contract? Should I believe what I’m hearing?
How can I best defend myself? How do I want my remains treated? How do I find my authentic voice?
Industrial Applications
“The Five Whys”
The “Five Whys” method of root cause analysis was developed in the 1930s by Sakichi Toyoda, founder of Toyota Industries. The principal of this method is to ask the question, “Why” five times to define the root cause of a problem and have the issue resolved by the end of the last question. This could easily be adapted to the charrette process and
completed within an hour.