Charrette 11

For the first time the BIID collaborated with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) on their annual student charrette. In the last part of the nineteenth century at the architecture department of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, a charrette or small cart, would be wheeled into the design studio collecting students' work to take to the reviewing jury. The less organised students often walked alongside the cart finishing their drawings and were said to be working ‘en charrette.' This has now come to mean an intensive design process.

The charrette saw students being divided into groups for a day of intensive problem solving. The groups compete to produce the best solutions possible to a design assignment given at the beginning of the day and are guided by professional architects, interior designers and educators.
Architect Stephen Yakeley a founding member of the board of the AIA's UK chapter realised that their annual charrette held the potential of being an event for both architect students and interior design students alike. BIID President, Diana Yakeley and associate director Hayley Manning, welcomed the idea. When approached Brianne Page and Shannon Piatek, who were running this year's charrette, responded with enthusiasm. The charrette has always been well attended and this year there was an addition of interior design students from amongst others London Metropolitan University and University College Falmouth.

This years' challenge was to design an extension to the British Museum, which lies just around the corner from the Architectural Association in Bedford Square where the charrette was held. The students were split into 9 teams and one mentor was appointed to each group before they received their brief. The teams visited the British Museum before going back to the Architectural Association to start their work. The groups had until 4.30pm to finish the assignment and creative sparks were flying.

Paul Finch CBE, head of Design Council CABE, chaired the jury and was joined on the judging panel by Graeme Brooker, head of Interior Educators, and Stephan Reinke, the first president of the AIA UK. There is no doubt that the quality of work was very high, but there had to be winners and first place went to Canterbury University, second place went to Cambridge University and third place went to the interior design students of Chelsea college of Art and Design (pictured above).

At the end of the day there seemed to be a consensus that it had been an absolutely exhilarating, if exhausting, experience. This was a success which will hopefully be repeated next year!

Go to our Facebook page to see more pictures from the charrette!