Downtown Rochester Design Charrette

 

On January 19, 20 and 21, 2007, the Downtown Rochester Charrette brought together 129 design professionals representing 27 firms in the Rochester Region for an intensive brainstorming session to devise creative, viable solutions to challenges in Rochester’s built environment. Charrette study areas included Main Street, the River North of Main Street, the River South of Main Street, the Southeast/Inner Loop area, and Midtown. Design teams consisted of approximately 5 to 10 designers each, with a minimum of two teams for each study area.

The charrette, kicked off by Mayor Robert Duffy on the morning of the 19th, included a public input session on Friday, January 19 from noon to 5 pm, from which comments were transcribed and provided to the charrette teams for their reference during the remainder of the charrette. On Saturday, January 20, from 10 am to noon, a “Resource Team” consisting of over 25 professional non-designers in fields related to development, finance, education, the arts and others joined the design teams to learn about the process and provide input to the design teams on the strategies for development.

The drawings and strategies devised at the charrette have since been digitized and an initial report has been produced on the Midtown outcomes to advise a major decision by City Government on the development potential for that area. A process is now being put into place to bring private firms on board to analyze and synthesize the charrette drawings and devise a series of refined, site-specific strategies to be compiled into a professional-quality report. The final charrette report should be available by mid-year, 2007.