Behind the scenes at Montgomery Planning!
We've done a ton of community engagement so far for our ongoing Eastern Silver Spring Communities Plan, and now it's time to synthesize that input to start crafting preliminary recommendations for the plan.
As a complement to what we've heard from the community during the master planning process, our staff hold periodic charrettes on master plans. It's a gathering of our experts to talk through, collaborate, and sketch designs to explore and share ideas about a plan area.
We recently held a charrette for the plan featuring small group activities focused on sections of the Colesville Road, University Boulevard, and New Hampshire Avenue corridors in the plan area, as well as neighborhoods along the future Purple Line corridor.
Why call it a charrette?
It's a 15th century French term meaning "wheeled cart" but by the 17th century the word had been replaced by terms such as “carriage” and “wagon.” In the mid-20th century, American architects took up the term to describe collaborative group projects, making reference to the carts (“charrettes”) that 19th-century Parisian architecture schools sent out to collect students’ work for assessment.
The Eastern Silver Spring Communities Plan team looks forward to sharing what came out of the charrette with the community and get feedback soon!
