Idaho Falls Citizen Design Charettes Could Help Long Term Growth
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Annual design charrettes would dramatically help guide Idaho Falls city improvements. The intensive design collaborations would also be a fun and smart new thing for residents to do every year.
I encourage you to read Wikipedia’s excellent explanation of charrettes to really get a sense of what I am proposing.
The point of the annual design charrettes would be to propose exciting and intelligent design solutions for local areas we would all like to see redeveloped. These areas include downtown (especially north of Capital), the greenbelt north of John’s Hole Bridge, the area south of the public library (north of 17th/Pancheri), the area east of Skyline High School, , the huge lot containing the old Fred Meyer and Albertson’s, Northgate Mile, northward expansion, etc.
It should be an annual event running two or three months. The targeted redesign area and design criteria could be released at a February meeting. The presentations could be displayed and discussed in April. A mid-point meeting would likely prove very constructive for design teams to discuss what they have learned.
The final presentations and discussion would be called the crit (critique). The crit could be held one evening at the library or museum. Community leaders and local design professionals could participate in asking questions and clarifications on the design proposals. The design proposals could be left out for a week or so to allow community residents to visit. Comment cards could be given out for people to leave their opinions of the various proposals.
The presentations could include models, watercolor renditions, 3D graphics, Powerpoints, etc. The work involved should be enough to accomplish in a couple hours weekly, so that most anyone can participate. Teams could form from co-workers, families, church members, or matching widely diverse skill sets (e.g. group an engineer with a graphic designer, a business person, a medical person, a teacher, etc.)
I see this type of activity being run by the Grow Idaho Falls organization, but they would need partners. The Post Register could publish a few articles in a series designed to raise awareness of the issues. Ideally, a guest lecturer would be scheduled once every three weeks during the charrette period. Topics would address urban planning, design, sustainable architecture, even urban sociology. Our own University of Idaho architecture faculty in Moscow could be a great source of intelligent design speakers. My old professor Nels Reese would be a very personable, engaging, and knowledgeable speaker.
I see the teams being capped at six official members. All participating teams should be given some sort of small honorarium (zoo tickets, or a luncheon with the Mayor). The winning teams (determined by the design jury) could be awarded a more substantial honorarium like symphony or arts council tickets. The point is more participation in a smart process and contributing to the city’s well-being than financial gain. However, of course it would be awesome if local businesses donated laptops or other incentive prizes.
Our city would not be obligated to implement these designs. However, the designs produced annually would undoubtedly inspire more exciting and smarter long-term developments around Idaho Falls. It would also be a fun and engaging process to participate in and report on.
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Anyone recall about 15 years ago when the Idaho Falls public library held a contest to redesign their atrium? It was kind of exciting and fun, and I don’t think anything like that has happened in Idaho Falls since.
Recalling that event was one of the reasons that spurred me to suggest this idea.