Chapter 00 | Session 00

And Now I See

Chapter 00 | Session 00 And Now I See: Teaching Simplified Methods Of Charrette-style Illustration For Urban Design, Urban Planning, And Community Engagement Lohren Deeg Associate Professor of Urban Planning, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA

Abstract This paper will examine questions regarding effective and efficient graphic communication in the context of community planning, as well as the documented reactions of the general public to the imagery and ideas that community-based design and planning charrettes produce. Key questions regarding the political relationship between recognized public participation methods and charrette drawings will also be examined. Student and alumni feedback, as well as literature review, will evaluate the effectiveness of said techniques, as well as their applicability to opportunities of collaborative design and planning across the allied disciplines. This paper and the course it describes are intended to showcase and inspire the re-visiting of hand drawing and sketching techniques that can unlock potential in design communication and design-based planning activities conducted in the public interest.

Keywords Urban Planning, Urban Design, Landscape Architecture, Public Participation, Tablet Computing, Consensus Design

1. Introduction 1.1. The Loss Of Drawing As A Skill Architecture and its allied disciplines enjoyed pedagogical groundings with the fine and liberal arts, and the author’s education was no exception. Four years of high school art courses and college-level studios at an arts-based summer camp propelled a certain visual acuity and love for drawing and representation. Further education in traditional drafting instilled a set of motor skills that can today be recalled in the instant of picking up a lead holder. That fine arts pedagogy, grounded in still-life drawing, figure drawing, mono-printing, plein-air painting, charcoal, and ink-line sketching remains at the core of many programs of environmental design, with certain assumptions that students have some experience coming in. The author’s current students in beginning studios and in particular beginning graduate students in urban planning do not have this luxury. At the time of this publication, pending cuts in art programs across public education (Strauss, 2017) could leave students with little opportunity to build the visualization and motor skills necessary to execute or recognize quality representation of design and planning ideas in their higher education experience or careers, unless

educators take proactive action. The author has learned that the repeated demonstration of what William Kirby Lockard referred to as “direct methods” (Lockard, 2001) of drawing, as well as the direct introduction of tools and layers has been both a necessary and effective way to teach technical and illustrative drawing skills to the novice. Figure 1.1. The author demonstrates live a series of charrette-style drawing conventions and methods in an interactive classroom setting. Photo by author.

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1.2. Starting Over: From The Beginning The author now finds it is necessary to begin courses with such phrases as, this is how you hold the pencil, and this is how one should move their arm. Matthew Frederick, in his 2007 book 101 Things I Learned In Architecture School, begins the text with a lesson entitled “how to draw a line” (Frederick, 2007). The author feels this simple book is an alarm call to educators, who may now be tasked with covering the very fundamentals, craft, and motor skills associated with basic line work in order for students to succeed in any method or form of design communication. Urban planners, landscape architects, urban designers, and historic preservationists have a common need to effectively communicate information and ideas to others, similar to those engaged in the traditional practice of architecture. The ability to plan effectively in the contemporary urban context requires creative and analytic thinking. Such skills are irrelevant if one cannot communicate a vision or deliver findings to the public. Expressed intimidation with the practices of sketching and drawing can hinder the ability to communicate ideas and topics investigated in the urban condition. Simplifying a collection of drawing techniques into an accessible series of steps can unlock a cohort’s ability to communicate planning goals. Some contemporary theorists of urban planning have suggested that the profession is really nothing more than effective communication, as stated by Judith Innes in her definition of communicative planning theory (Innes, 1995).

2. Charrettes In The Public Interest 2.1. History And Beginnings The term “charrette,” from the French for “little cart” (“What Is A Charrette,” n.d.) has been adopted by design-based planning professionals in the last 50 years as a way to build consensus with regard to a community’s future, growing from the Rural and Urban Design Assistance Team project launched by the American Institute of Architects in 1967 (“Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team,” n.d) and continuing with the recent Sustainable Design Assistance Team initiative (“Sustainable Design Assistance Team,” n.d.). Most charrettes last from three to ten days and intend to create dialogue between community advocates, public officials, design students, professionals, and the general public. The short and intensive timeline of a charrette facilitates a dialogue of community concerns, and allows a design team to analyze, prioritize, generate, and vet potential solutions with stakeholders and the general public. Ball State University has a long tradition of using the charrette process as a public service to a state-wide constituency

and as an immersive learning opportunity for students. However, as traditional techniques in architectural drawing become less prevalent in required studio and communications courses, it becomes desirable to re-visit sketching and rendering techniques that past generations of students once learned in a compulsory fashion. Traditional techniques examined in midtwentieth century books on marker and ink sketching were subsequently re-tooled for topics in urban planning and design. Felt-tip markers, pens, colored pencils, as well as current software platforms such as Adobe Photoshop, Trimble SketchUp, Morpholio Trace, and ProCreate for the iPad were also investigated.

2.2. Co-Design Drawing And The Charrette Revisiting a rich history of public interest design and graphic techniques for charrettes now exists as a historic literature review. Stanley King, founder and president of the Co-Design group in Vancouver, British Columbia (“Stanley King”, n.d.), speaks to the specific roles and needs of the “co-design artist” (King, 1989), not as a pure illustrator nor as an architect or planner, but as an artist who invites and facilitates dialogue with the public. King explained the participatory role of the charrette artist in a 1989 book entitled Co-design: A Process of Design Participation. In the text, King and his associates describe the role in detail: “The co-design drawing is a different mode of drawing, offering the artist a position as a leader of significant influence in the design of our environments…. The members of the group tend to see the artist not as a person, but as an extension of their own hands and eyes.” (p. 56) This is to say that in King’s brand of community workshops, the citizen participation becomes very direct in the dialogue and physical construction of the charrette style drawing. King’s associates tend to use easels, not tables, and encourage citizens to help render and subsequently sign each drawing. This form of citizen buy-in is critical to the level of potential consensus that the charrette workshop intends to create. King goes on to explain that: “The role of the co-design artist is unusual in another respect, in that the drawing is done in public and so can display skills of conceptualization and execution in a social setting, as opposed to the isolated work of the drawing studio. The artist is called upon to come forward as essential to the progress of the work, and the artistic skills are seen as being practical, necessary, rare, and talented. The artist assumes the role of leader, helping to focus the discussion on the development of the image. All of the thoughts and ideas pass through the creative instincts and perceptions of the artist, a filter or

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transformer of words into lines. Thus, the artist does not have a passive role, but rather guides the progress of the collective work and imparts an active imagination in the process.” (pp. 56-57) Figure 2.1. The author facilitates a rigorous and sometimes contentious community dialogue in Linglestown, Penn., with notes and small sketches in 1998. Over 200 participants gathered over the course of one weekend. The community charrette process was used to generate and show alternatives for the community’s future. Photo by James Segedy.

King speaks well to the presumptive cognitive and communicative ability of the artist to be an active listener in the conversation of community visioning. Such abilities can test the artist’s ability to fairly comprehend a citizen’s concerns, fears, dreams, trepidation, and reticence. Translating these concerns into the scope and content of the drawings is arguably part of the job and part of the importance of the loose, hand drawing style. In the author’s experience, it is the loose hand drawing that can be quickly changed or revised during the on-site workshop. King adds: “The ability to draw at the direction of several people – to solicit their ideas, listen to their suggestions, and organize those into a coherent visual image – is the most demanding skill required of the co-design artist… Talking and drawing simultaneously is very difficult; it may help to think of the drawing as telling a story: the story of the participants, engaged in an activity in a new place in the imagination.” (p. 57) Figure 2.2. For the purposes of teaching Charrette style graphics, the author has adopted the overlay-and-trace steps outlined in Jim Leggitt’s Drawing Shortcuts: Developing Quick Drawing Skills Using Today's Technology. The author solicits student participation and drafts immediate revisions as the drawing’s layers are made, modeling Stanley King’s “Co-Design” process of public participation in the crafting of the final image.

3. Charrette Drawing with New Technologies 3.1. Tablet Computing And Interactivity The process of storytelling is considerably more fluid and publically sharable given the introduction of new technologies available to public participation in community planning, and it may have be argued that traditional hand drawings belong in the past. Urban Designer and Professor Kheir Al-Kodmany presented in a 2001 article a few points worth considering in today’s context. Al-Kodmany argues that: “People seem to enjoy seeing their ideas put into realistic drawings. It is highly accessible in a group workshop format, as long as people are willing to speak about their

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ideas. It is also flexible in terms of scale, since the artist can draw at any scale requested. Finally, it is a low-cost option, as the only expenses are pen and paper. The main drawbacks of freehand sketching are that it is limited in presenting information about the current context of the planning area, and it is not highly interactive…. There are many variations of this method, however, that could be more interactive, such as allowing participants to draw preliminary ideas or using an electronic sketch board that project’s the artist’s drawings onto a wall.” (2001) Al-Kodmany advocated and forecasted the current technological ability of higher interactivity with the participating public, given the advent of digital tablets and peripherals. Illustrators can download a map or a street level view of a context and begin sketching over it immediately in applications such as ProCreate, Morpholio Trace, or Autodesk Sketchbook. In a 2014 article in Landscape Architecture, Brett Lezon examined the potential impacts of Morpholio Trace on the design and planning process. Lezon observed that: “(Morpholio) is nicely suited to capturing site documentation and construction photos. These tools ultimately make it easy to edit and share your work with other team members via e-mail, import images through your camera roll, or sync with another app in a seamless fashion.” (2014) Lezon was speaking to the practicing landscape architecture professional, but the interactivity and versatility he discusses also extends to the potential communication and relationships between the designer/planner and the client/public for matters of consensus building. Today with tablet computing the designer is empowered to ask questions while drawing and therefore ennoble the citizen participant to react in a shorter and more interactive feedback loop, which is what the charrette process has always intended.

3.2. Charrettes And Social Media Platforms Beyond the context or timeline of the on-site workshop, social media, mobile applications, internet-based surveys, and the video recording or streaming of public meetings, recent technologies have enabled the citizen to engage in community issues and futures around their own schedule. For example, the launch of the Imagine Griffith Facebook Page by Ball State University’s Community Based Projects program during a 2011 charrette, is still in use by community stakeholders at the time of this paper. The Facebook page garners over 1,712 total follows (“Imagine Griffith”, 2011) with a total town population of 16,893 according to 2016 census estimate (US Census Bureau, 2010). Images from that charrette continue to be displayed on the page as the community action plan moves toward implementation. Figure 3.2. A screen-capture of the Imagine Griffith Facebook page, featuring a charrette style drawing by the author. Screen capture by author.

Figure 3.1. For a 2013 charrette in Bloomington, Ind., the author used Morpholio Trace 2.0 to examine the geographic relationships between the B-Line rail-trail and the Monroe County Courthouse. The interactivity made possible between geospatial mapping, digital tablet computing, and sketching/diagramming make such skills newly relevant in current planning and design practices. Digital drawing by author.

3.3. Charrette Drawings And Political Reality Current technologies and social media platforms give hand drawings, particularly digital hand drawings, such as those performed on digital tablets and tablet computers, more versatility and visibility in the community charrette workshop or internal office charrette process. In the author’s experience, the image of people in charrette drawings continues to summon

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strong positive and negative reactions depending on if the status quo of the neighborhood is in question. Fast work using trace paper and Adobe Photoshop allows for revisions to continue the community dialogue. For example, in figure 3.3, the image of a lone male riding a bicycle on a bridge was enough to trigger expressions of negativity with regard to gentrification. The purpose of the image was to depict a proposed park along the banks of a creek, not communicate changes in the demographics of the district. Thanks to the steps available with Adobe Photoshop, the image was revised to depict a family resembling the current ethnic and racial makeup of the neighborhood. Figure 3.3. In the Indianapolis Mid-North Quality of Life Plan of 2012, a sketch (top) depicts a lone male on a bicycle crossing a bridge. The image was revised to support the image of a family outing (bottom). Illustration by author.

4. Course Structure And Objectives Given the demand for enhanced or revisited skills in charrette style graphics, the author designed an elective course structured around 16 graphic exercises. A three-

hour evening class format was selected, allowing for live demonstration from the author, recorded on video, and followed by a full class pin-up and review. At the completion of the course, students were required to document their work in a portfolio. Students were also required to write an argumentative term paper reflecting on learning experiences and methodology found across a discussion of case studies. These cases ranged from techniques in public participation, to press coverage on charrettes, to detailed discussions of graphic tools and techniques. The term paper intended to enhance critical thinking and research skills in the practice and application of graphic techniques in design. Figure 4.1. A pin-up at the end of each class session models the public’s feedback process during a community charrette workshop and allows for the immediate comparison and critique of student work.

Students were encouraged to participate in at least one to two charrettes in the course of the semester as a practicum for the course. Annual departmental activities, such as one-week internal charrette centering on the university’s host city, challenged students to study distressed neighborhoods and brownfield sites in a local context. A college level outreach program historically conducted charrette workshops throughout the state and region, centering on small towns, urban neighborhoods, transportation corridors, and even agricultural fairgrounds for a 50-year period. Studios in the author’s host college continue to use the charrette process as part of their semester projects, and other studios conduct

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internal charrettes to motivate students, as well as generate and discuss design ideas in a compressed timeline. Students also use the charrette process as a community service and outreach mechanism, and as a springboard for leadership and management skills. Figure 4.2. In recent years, students have applied Charrette style graphics in community workshops and immersive learning activities, such as this student-led charrette at a University outreach center.

When questioned on the subject if charrette style drawings and timelines expressed alternatives and options better or faster, Greenfield replied that the methods were: “…definitely faster to get all (of) your ideas out there. (A charrette) allows management to see your ideas and correct course without messing with the preciseness of CAD/computer. Also, it allows the designer to be more creative on the fly by not being restricted by computer software tools/processes. A drawing can't crash on you... however, you can crash on a drawing.” (Greenfield)

5.2. Current Students And New Technology

5. Professional Application Of Charrette Style Graphics And Methods 5.1. Conversations With Alumni The course has generated some long-term correspondence with alumni and practitioners on the subject of hand drawing and its continued relevance in the design process as technological tools, hardware, and software continue to evolve. The role of sketching in the early stages of the design process, as well as in design development and construction administration, reveal an opportunity for the charrette process and thinking to be relevant. The opportunity to quickly generate ideas within a creative team, rapidly communicate with clients or contractors, or build consensus with the public are three areas in which the learning objectives of the course continue to be practiced. Daniel Greenfield, an Urban Planning and Urban Design alumnus of Ball State University, shared some insights on how the charrette process is used in his current employment at a global engineering firm. Greenfield said the members of his military base planning team can quickly generate concepts and alternatives before applying them in a CAD (computer aided design) platform. When speaking about a recent internal team charrette, he stated emphatically that: “The importance of drawing concepts by hand before reaching for a computer mouse cannot be stressed enough in the corporate world" (D. Greenfield, personal communication 2/15/2018).

Noah Donica, a recent student of the author, introduced his use of a simple digital device named Blackboard by Boogie Board. Boogie Board’s capacitive liquid crystal display (LCD) surface facilitates diagramming and sketching over a number of templates, including documents on paper that can be inserted into the device. When combined with a proprietary stylus, the plastic LCD surface behaves similar to tracing paper. Results can be quickly uploaded and shared using a smartphone with a proprietary app installed. Blackboard is currently sold at a fraction of the cost of a stand-alone tablet computer and acts as a peripheral to a device that the user likely already has in the form of the mobile phone, rather than replicating it as a tablet computer does. Donica mentioned the professional uses of the tool in his office of employment, stating: “Currently at C.R. Stafford and Associates, a small architecture and master planning firm in Indianapolis, Indiana, (Blackboard serves as an) inner office tool with the prospects of growing into the client-architect relationship. Due to the tool’s ability to interface with both iOS and Android applications, it has become useful for sharing sketches with consultants. Designers have used this tool to trace over plans and charrette solutions with nearly the same instant feedback as with a face-to-face interaction with MEP (Mechanical Electrical Plumbing), civil, and structural consultants.” (N. Donica, personal communication, 3/20/18) Donica went on to mention the continued benefits of sketching and short, intensive design activities like charrettes in his office’s internship and practice, adding that: “The informality of a hand drawing produced in a charrette allows for the design process to continue. The aid of computers created many advancements in the field of place-making; however, the graphics produced by an electronic aid often have a quality of finality that halts the design process—keeping a project from becoming further developed.” (Donica).

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6. Conclusions The aforementioned elective course in Charrette style graphics in its current format is now in its eighth year. Over 150 undergraduate and graduate students of architecture, urban planning, urban design, historic preservation, landscape architecture, and interior design have enrolled in the course over this period. As new technologies for sketching and drawing emerge, and new forms of public participation arise, this course will continue to evolve. The author is confident that students and alumni of these professional disciplines who seek these skills will be ready for the challenges and needs of the professions and public that they represent. In the author’s experience, students and alumni who continue to improve on these skills over time emerge as effective leaders in their professions. The author is grateful to those who have taken and supported the elective course over its history, and is eager to continue offering a venue for future students to gain and enhance graphic acuity, active listening, and efficient design communication. The author feels that this course and others like it advance these professions toward avenues of relevance, empathy, and social justice. Effective and participatory design communication, when utilized, enables and empowers its practitioners and the public to collaborate toward a more egalitarian and sustainable future for communities.

7. References Al-Kodmany, K. (2001). Visualization Tools and Methods for Participatory Planning and Design. Journal of Urban Technology, 8(2), 1-37. doi:10.1080/106307301316904772 Al-Kodmany, K. (2002). Visualization Tools and Methods in Community Planning: From Freehand Sketches to Virtual Reality. Journal of Planning Literature, 17(2), 189-211. doi:10.1177/088541202762475946 Displays. (n.d.). Features. Retrieved April 9, 2018, from http://blackboardlcp.com/explore Donica, N. (2018, March 20). Graphics in Interoffice Communication [E-mail]. Frederick, M. (2007). 101 things I learned in architecture school. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Greenfield, D. (2018, February 15). Teaching my Fortune 200 company the importance of hand graphics before jumping to CAD [E-mail to the author]. Imagine Griffith. (2011). Facebook Page: Imagine Griffith. Retrieved March 24, 2018, from

https://www.facebook.com/pg/ImagineGriffith/comm unity/?ref=page_internal Innes, J. E. (1995). Planning Theory's Emerging Paradigm: Communicative Action and Interactive Practice. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 14(3), 183-189. doi:10.1177/0739456x9501400307 King, S., Conley, M., Latimer, B., & Ferrari, D. (1989). Co-design: A process of design participation. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Leggitt, J. (2010). Drawing shortcuts: Developing quick drawing skills using today's technology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Lezon, B. (2014, May 15). Do Over and Over: Morpholio Trace 2.0. Retrieved March 24, 2018, from https://landscapearchitecturemagazine.org/2014/05/ 15/do-over-and-over-morpholio-trace-2-0/ Lockard, W. K. (2001). Design drawing. New York: Norton. Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team Program (R/UDAT). (n.d.). The American Institute of Architects (US). Retrieved from https://www.aia.org/pages/2896-regionalurbandesign-assistance-team-program-rudat Stanley King. (n.d.). Co-Design Group. Retrieved from http://codesigngroup.blogspot.com/p/stanleyking.html Strauss, V. (2017, May 18). Analysis | Here are K-12 education programs Trump wants to eliminate in 2018 budget. Retrieved March 24, 2018, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answersheet/wp/2017/05/18/here-are-k-12-educationprograms-trump-wants-to-eliminate-in-2018-budget/ Sustainable Design Assessment Team Program (SDAT). (n.d.). The American Institute of Architects (US). Retrieved from https://www.aia.org/pages/2901-sustainabilitydesign-assistance-team-program-sdat U.S. Census Bureau. (2010, October 05). Your Geography Selections. Retrieved March 24, 2018, from https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/ pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk What is a Charrette? (n.d.). The Town Paper. Retrieved from http://www.tndtownpaper.com/what_is_charrette.ht m

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