Skip to Content Skip to Content

From the Weitzman School of Design

Articles from From the Weitzman School of Design
Protecting Indigenous heritage in an age of climate vulnerability
Wupatki Pueblo in Arizona at dusk.

Wupatki Pueblo, north of Flagstaff, Arizona, is among the villages built by Native peoples in the desert Southwest centuries ago. “We look at those sites as still alive, as offering us the opportunity to connect with our ancestors and to continue the work, and legacy of that work, of communing with that place,” says Chas Robles, ALCC’s executive director.

(Image: Colin Cohan)

Protecting Indigenous heritage in an age of climate vulnerability

A preservation plan being developed by researchers in the Weitzman School in consultation with local stewards conserves a millennium of human settlement.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Preservation studio teaches preservation planning practice
Liz Trumbull and Cameron Moon in the hospital ward of Eastern State Penitentiary, wearing hard hats.

Weitzman Historic Preservation Studio students Liz Trumbull and Cameron Moon in 2022 in the hospital ward of Eastern State Penitentiary.

(Image: Elizabeth Donison)

Preservation studio teaches preservation planning practice

The Weitzman School of Design’s Preservation Studio promotes sound decision-making practices in the face of contemporary preservation challenges.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Toward carbon-negative architecture
A rendering of the carbon-absorbing and storage system

A rendering of the carbon-absorbing and storage system developed by the Penn team and its partners suggests how minimized material use and maximized surface area are expressed in the structure's slabs, columns, and beams.

(Image: Courtesy of Weitzman News)

Toward carbon-negative architecture

A multidisciplinary team of researchers from Weitzman and Penn Engineering are working to develop a new building system that would reduce carbon in all aspects of concrete construction.

From the Weitzman School of Design

‘A place of collaborative conversation’
Catherine Seavitt (fourth from left) at a Spring 2024 studio review

Catherine Seavitt (seated, glasses) at a Spring 2024 studio review. “Our department is recognized as a place of collaborative conversation,” says Seavitt, who is also co-executive director of The Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism & Ecology.

(Image: Courtesy of Weitzman News)

‘A place of collaborative conversation’

On Sept. 26 and 27, the Weitzman School will host Landscape Futures: Centennial of the Department of Landscape Architecture, a two-day symposium to celebrate the department’s unique ecological foundations, its evolving curriculum, and its ongoing global influence on landscape architectural practice and education.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Nurturing nightlife in Music City
Downtown Nashville at dusk.

Image: Courtesy of Weitzman News

Nurturing nightlife in Music City

A new report from PennPraxis, VibeLab, and Culture Shift Team captures the vitality and vulnerability of Nashville's music scene.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Weitzman’s Rossana Hu on adaptive reuse and historic architecture
Rossana Hu.

Rossana Hu, Miller Professor and Chair of Architecture.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

Weitzman’s Rossana Hu on adaptive reuse and historic architecture

Hu, the Miller Professor and chair of the Department of Architecture, takes a “common sense” approach to adaptive reuse in her design work and teaching.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Weitzman’s Sharon Hayes explores performance, identity, and history
Installation view of Sharon Hayes’ “Ricerche: four, 2024”

Installation view of Sharon Hayes’ “Ricerche: four, 2024,” at the Whitney Biennial.

Installation view of Sharon Hayes’ “Ricerche: four, 2024,” at the Whitney Biennial. (Image: Ron Amstutz)

Weitzman’s Sharon Hayes explores performance, identity, and history

The professor of fine arts is debuting the fifth installment of her video series “Ricerche” at the 2024 Whitney Biennial.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Weitzman’s Sanya Carley on energy justice
Sanya Carley.

Sanya Carley, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Energy Policy and City Planning.

nocred

Weitzman’s Sanya Carley on energy justice

The Presidential Distinguished Professor of Energy Policy and City Planning believes that energy justice should be a central part of America’s energy transition.

From the Weitzman School of Design

The Penn-China architectural connection
Lin Huiyin with Liang Sicheng at the Temple of Heaven

Lin Huiyin with Liang Sicheng at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, c. 1936.

(Image: Fisher Fine Arts Library Image Collection)

The Penn-China architectural connection

Penn’s Weitzman School of Design has a long history of collaboration in China, and large number of Chinese international students are undertaking adaptive reuse and historical preservation projects.

From the Weitzman School of Design

At Shenandoah National Park, the past, present, and future of a historic center of Black life
A historical photo of a group from Washington, D.C. traveling through Shenandoah National Park.

Lewis Mountain was the center of Black life at Shenandoah National Park during the late 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Under Jim Crow, it was the only area designed to offer overnight accommodations to Black visitors. It was also the only area within the park run by and for Black campers, providing a safe space for recreation. This undated historic photo shows a group from Washington, D.C. traveling through Shenandoah National Park.

(Image: Personal collection of Reed Engle, National Park Service)

At Shenandoah National Park, the past, present, and future of a historic center of Black life

The Urban Heritage Project, an initiative of the Weitzman School’s Department of Historic Preservation, is working with the National Park Service to evaluate historically segregated cabin camps as nationally significant cultural heritage sites.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Load More