Thought to originate from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the 19th Century, the charrette, French for "cart", refers to the cart pushed around by professors to collect the final artwork by art and architecture students who were often in a frantic rush to finish their work.
Today, in fields of design such as architecture, industrial design, interior design, or graphic design, the term charrette can refer to the same intense completion of work by one person or a group of people before a deadline. The time leading up to a deadline can be full of sleepless nights and very focused work.
An example of the charrette: at the University of Virginia's School of Architecture, the last week before the end of classes is unofficially called Charrette. At the final deadline time (assigned by the School), all students must put their "pencils down" and stop working. The work is then presented to students and faculty in a critiqued presentation.
A charrette also refers to a collaborative session in which a group of designers creates a solution to a design problem. While the structure of a charrette is highly dependent on the design problem and the individuals in the group, charrettes often take place in multiple sessions in which the group divides into sub-groups. The work done by these sub-groups is then presented to the full group as material for future dialogue.
Charrettes are used as a way of quickly generating a design solution while integrating the aptitudes and interests of a diverse group of people.
Also referred to as a "design charrette."
Alternate spelling of charrette: "charette"
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