From Wikpedia:
A charrette (pronounced [shuh-ret], often misspelled charette and sometimes called a design charrette) consists of an intense period of design activity.
The word charrette can refer to any collaborative session in which a group of designers drafts a solution to a design problem. While the structure of a charrette varies depending on the design problem and the individuals in the group, charrettes often take place in multiple sessions in which the group divides into sub-groups. Each sub-group then presents its work to the full group as material for future dialogue. Such charrettes serve as a way of quickly generating a design solution while integrating the aptitudes and interests of a diverse group of people.
Thought to originate from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the 19th Century, the word charrette is from the French for "cart" or "chariot". Student architects still working furiously on the grand illustrations that were their design presentations, literally in the cart ("en charrette"), as they were wheeled through the streets of Paris on their way at the very last minute to turn in their work to their professors.
