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‘Scattered Earth, Sounded Depth’
Eissa Attar and Alvin Luong standing in art gallery with arms around each other's shoulders

Artworks by the two master of fine arts students graduating in the Class of 2025, Eissa Attar (left) and Alvin Luong, are in a thesis exhibition at the Arthur Ross Gallery through a new collaboration with the Weitzman School of Design. 

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‘Scattered Earth, Sounded Depth’

A new thesis exhibition at the Arthur Ross Gallery features works by graduating Master of Fine Arts students Eissa Attar, from Saudi Arabia, and Alvin Luong, from Canada. On view through May 30,  “Scattered Earth, Sounded Depth,” was curated by Emily Zimmerman.

4 min. read

For dual architecture degree candidate Kelvin Vu, design begins with the body
Kelvin Vu performing a dance move.

Image: Kait Privitera

For dual architecture degree candidate Kelvin Vu, design begins with the body

Master of architecture and master of landscape architecture candidate Kelvin Vu, who was a professional dancer before coming to Weitzman, says “dance and landscape design are about change, flux, and dynamism.”

From the Weitzman School of Design

2 min. read

Exterior restoration of a landmark
exterior of brick and terracotta building

The 134-year-old building on College Green will continue to be open for use throughout construction.

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Exterior restoration of a landmark

Designed by world-famous Philadelphia architect Frank Furness, the iconic Anne and Jerome Fisher Fine Arts Library Building is undergoing a 20-month exterior renovation and restoration that will encase its red sandstone, terracotta, and brick exterior in scaffolding through the fall of 2026.

3 min. read

Concrete panels as teaching tools, materials testing, and outdoor sculptures
Richard Garber standing outside in front of concrete panel

Architect Richard Garber created and teaches the graduate course Matter Making and Testing: Designing with Next Generation Precast Concrete.

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Concrete panels as teaching tools, materials testing, and outdoor sculptures

On view outside the Weitzman School of Design are three freestanding concrete panels designed and made by students in a unique graduate seminar that partners with a local concrete-fabrication plant

5 min. read

Sean Burkholder and Eva Del Soldato awarded the 2025-26 Rome Prize
headshots of Sean Burkholder and Eva Del Soldato

Penn faculty members Sean Burkholder of the Weitzman School of Design and Eva Del Soldato of the School of Arts & Sciences are among 35 recipients of the 2025-26 Rome Prize, awarded by the American Academy in Rome.

(Images: Courtesy of Sean Burkholder and Eva Del Soldato)

Sean Burkholder and Eva Del Soldato awarded the 2025-26 Rome Prize

Sean Burkholder of the Weitzman School of Design and Eva Del Soldato of the School of Arts & Sciences are among 35 recipients of the 2025-26 Rome Prize, awarded by the American Academy in Rome to support innovative fellows in the arts, humanities, and sciences.

3 min. read

Penn IUR enters its third decade
From left: Genie Birch, Judith Rodin, and Susan Wachter

Housed in Meyerson Hall, the Penn Institute for Urban Research (IUR) is a campus-wide enterprise that draws from the collective wisdom of experts around the Penn and beyond to inform urban development and actions on public policy to support the sustainable growth of metros. Now entering its third decade, President Emerita Judith Rodin and Penn IUR co-directors Eugénie Birch and Susan Wachter reflect on the Institute’s history and impact.

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Penn IUR enters its third decade

The Penn Institute for Urban Research enters its second decade. President emerita Judith Rodin and co-directors Eugénie Birch and Susan Wachter reflect on the Institute’s history and impact.

10 min. read

Listening to the city
Aki Di Sandro standing on a sidewalk in downtown Philadelphia.

“I’ve always been fascinated by how different cities sound," says Aki Di Sandro, a student in the Weitzman School’s Master of Urban Spatial Analytics program.

(Image: Courtesy of Weitzman News)

Listening to the city

In a Spring 2025 City & Regional Planning course at Penn’s Weitzman School, students are exploring the connections between urban sounds and neighborhood identity.

From the Weitzman School of Design

2 min. read

Preservation Awards recognize Weitzman faculty and alum work across Philadelphia region

Preservation Awards recognize Weitzman faculty and alum work across Philadelphia region

Several Weitzman faculty and alums are recipients of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia’s annual Achievement Awards, including a team from the Department of Historic Preservation’s Center for Architectural Conservation that was recognized with a Grand Jury Award for its comprehensive documentation work of the George Nakashima Family House, and Molly Lester, a lecturer in historic preservation and associate director of the Urban Heritage Project, earned the Young Friends of the Preservation Alliance Award for her monograph “Building Ghosts: Past Lives and Lost Plac