The Preservation Foundation

"It is futile to plan a city's appearance, or speculate on how to endow it with a pleasing appearance of order, without knowing what sort of innate, functioning order it has."

- Jane Jacobs

 

Draft Report of the Charrette

 

TCRPC's work-in-progress Citizen's Master Plan

 

On Monday, April 7th the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council (TCRPC) delivering their draft report on the charrette to advise on the future of the Royal Poinciana Way area.  To download a 9 MB Adobe PDF file of the report, please click here.

The TCRPC ran the charrette, which is an intense design session involving town residents, staff, elected officials, and other participating agencies working with designers to develop a detailed master plan to guide development, and define and protect the community’s character.  The TCRPC was created in 1976 by and for local governments to help in dealing with just such issues.  Its job is to provide planning and technical assistance services in carrying out Florida's growth management programs.

During the design charrette the public was asked to make notations and suggestions to photographs of the town.  A plan was then developed from these.

The advantage gained by this process is the charrette’s ability to efficiently generate a design solution of consensus which integrates the aptitudes and interests of a diverse group of people.

The charrette began with a public design workshop on the first day.  Here residents participated by actually drawing and designing elements of the plan. Numerous sessions then followed in which the overall TCRPC group divided into sub-groups, or teams. Using the feedback received from the public, these teams went to work.  The teams then presented their work to the full group and public as material for discussion and debate.  From this, the TCRPC formed ideas and options each night for further feedback and analysis as the charrette continued.  The overall TCRPC group then divided again and the process continued.  It culminated with the presentation of their work-in-progress report.

 

Key suggestions of the plan

1. That the the Royal Poinciana Playhouse and Plaza are fine as they are serving as office space.  The area works well as office space as it now stands.  No changes are necessary.  However, if there is a wish to turn the area into a more commercial retail center, TCRPC suggests:

• Keeping the Royal Poinciana Playhouse but removing the buildings on the sides of the playhouse.  These sides would then be converted into waterfront dining areas, similar to the old supper club which used to be there.
• Extracting the Gucci centerpiece from the plaza to allow for the creation of a walkway or driveway through the plaza to the front of playhouse.  TCRPC claims this would emphasize the view of the playhouse, giving it greater visual importance in the plaza and encourage more commercial traffic to the stores so as to foster a viable and sustainable retail area.
• Changing the parking spaces in the plaza into green space. Then, moving those parking spaces into a parking garage where the Slat House now is. This garage would be hidden by surrounding buildings.

 

TCRPC's work-in-progress plan for the Royal Poinciana Playhouse and Plaza

 

2. Linking the lake trail to the plaza and playhouse by extending it underneath the bridge.

3. Re-designing Bradley Park into two triangles which form a rectangle.  TCRPC says this would encourage more pedestrian traffic into Bradley Park and draw a line of sight opening out towards the waterfront, instead of just sitting on it.

 

TCRPC's work-in-progress plan for Bradley Park

 

4. Creating a winding road cut from the center of Royal Poinciana Way through to Sunrise Avenue and the front of the Palm Beach Hotel and Condominium.  The South end of this new road cut would be located approximately where the bank and gas station now are.  TCRPC points out many people use this as an unofficial road now.  They feel this new road would help relieve car congestion and create more front space for shops so as to, again, foster a viable and sustainable retail area.

 

TCRPC's work-in-progress plan for creating a road cut from Royal Poinciana Way to Sunrise Avenue

 

5. Revisit the zoning code for the Royal Poinciana Way area with the goal of “encouraging the good things and dis-encouraging the bad.”  TCPRC warned “the current code creates a ‘do nothing scenario’ by making it cumbersome for owners to update buildings.”  They again emphasized their point that ‘no change’ is not an option.  The town should work towards the right change in an effort to maintain the area’s unique character.

 

When the city of Bradford in the United Kingdom finished their design plan, they created this award-winning video to show how their redevelopment might work.

 

University of Miami Architecture Students

As part of the Preservation Foundation’s advocacy during the Royal Poinciana Charrette, as well as for general urban planning and smart growth for the town of Palm Beach, a partnership was formed with the University of Miami’s School of Architecture.  A unique preservation design lab and studio for the university’s architecture students was created.

University of Miami students at work in the TCRPC charrette offices

Students began by researching the architectural and cultural history of the area.  One group investigated building plans and vintage photos in the Foundation’s archives as well as Town Hall’s.  Another group developed profiles on major town architects such as John Volk and Howard Major and their respective styles.  A third group went about physically documenting the Royal Poinciana Way area, taking photographs, noting important building details and ornamentations, and measuring facades, storefronts and street lengths.  Finally, they came together to create precise historic maps of Palm Beach which will eventually be housed in the Preservation Foundation’s archives with copies donated to the town.

Initially, only two or three students had been expected to participate.  However, the student response was overwhelming and by the time the charrette had begun approximately 15 students were working on the project.  Their work was so good that TCRPC asked them to join on as officially part of the team.

 

Historic Map of Palm Beach developed by the University of Miami architecture students

 

Jorge Alain Herrera, a 27 year-old 5th year architect student originally from Havana, Cuba said of the experience:  “I most enjoyed the field work and documentation, being out in the town seeing the architecture, and interacting with the public.  The overall collection of styles make for a uniquely diverse fabric of the town. A place so international in its architectural language, yet we know Palm Beach when we see it.”

University of Miami professor and architect Joanna Lombard oversaw the project.  She is a graduate of Harvard University and teaches design as well as courses on the theories of landscape and professional practice.  She and Associate Professor Rocco Ceo recently completed The Historic Landscapes of Florida, an exhibition and publication of ten years of study on twenty-seven historic landscapes throughout the state of Florida.

Much thanks must also go to Beth Dowdle for helping to come up with the original idea of contacting the University of Miami and for helping to make that idea a reality.

There is still more to come from the charrette.  TCRPC are set to present their completed proposal for the Royal Poinciana Way area at a special 4pm Town Council meeting on April 7th, 2008.  The report will include what TCRPC feel are the necessary changes to the current land development regulations in order to achieve the vision expressed by the community during the charrette.

 

History of the Charrette

The original Nolli plan of 1784 on which the charrette is based.

The history of the charrette goes far back.  The term ‘charrette’ is derived from the French word for “little cart.” In Paris during the 19th century, professors at the École de Beaux-Arts circulated with little carts to collect final drawings from their architecture students. Students would jump on the "charrette" to put finishing touches on their presentation minutes before the deadline.  The concept of a town design plan used by the charrette goes even further back to 1748 when Italian architect and surveyor Giambattista Nolli published his plan of Rome in 12 copper plates.  It was done in response to the commission of Pope Benedict XIV to survey Rome in order to help create demarcations for the city’s 14 traditional districts.  The Nolli plan was so successful it was used in government planning for the city of Rome as recently as in the 1970’s.

 

additional Materials for the Charrette

Document Downloads:  To download the darft report, the official flyer for the charrette, the Garden Club of Palm Beach's 1929 suggested plan for the town, Urban Design Associates' 1998 Pattern Book analyzing the architectural styles of the town, or a selection of vintage photograph postcards, please click here.

Suggested Reading:  To see a selection of books which might prove useful as background material on urban and town planning, please click here.