Digging IN

CHARRETTE: An intensive design session that drives ideas forward. Today the team grouped at the DIRT office early in the morning to kick off our charrette. The day began with establishing an overall vision statement that reads something like this, “The Ute Ulay Mine and Town Site will be an inhabitable place. It must be environmentally conscious, educational and historically sensitive.” Although this statement is subject to change, it served as a guide by which any concept can be validated or tossed to the wind.



Three groups separated to discuss and drill down into the three subjects in the vision statement: Habitation, education and environment. The small groups moved quickly and effectively to hash out the specifics of each subject. I participated in the habitation group, and we developed both a map and phased diagram to describe how habitation would take place on the site. In concert with the education and environment group, the ideas developed resembled a series of building blocks. Miraculously, every set of blocks seemed to fit together with another set.