Design | Penn Today

Professor of practice Leslie Richards on innovative transit and city planning

Once described as a “battleship turner” by Philadelphia Magazine, Weitzman professor of practice Leslie Richards served as secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and subsequently led the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), where she oversaw a $2 billion budget and a network that connects over five million residents in Greater Philadelphia. Having earned a master of regional planning degree from Penn in 1993, she was the first planner and

2 min. read

Robert Gerard Pietrusko’a installation ”A Satellite Symphony.”

At the Venice Biennale, a convergence of innovations in materials, structures, and landscapes

Several Weitzman School of Design faculty and students will exhibit at the Venice Biennale’s 19th International Architecture Exhibition.

3 min. read

Fourth-years Ejun Mary Hong and Jack Nicholas Roney were awarded a 2025 President's Engagement Prize to pursue their PIXEL project. The pair will collaborate to bring art mentorship, creative skill-building, and industry networking opportunities to under-resourced high school students in the greater Philadelphia area.

Empowering high school youth through immersive art mentorship

Penn fourth-years Ejun Mary Hong and Jack Nicholas Roney will use a President’s Engagement Prize to expand their existing initiative dedicated to connecting under-resourced high school students in Philadelphia with art mentorship, creative skill-building, and industry networking opportunities.

6 min. read

Richard Garber standing outside in front of concrete panel

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

headshots 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

Weitzman faculty to exhibit at 19th international exhibition—La Biennale di Venezia & Time Space Existence

Five members of the faculty at the Weitzman School of Design are participating in the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia: Winka Dubbeldam, Randall Mason, Robert Gerard Pietrusko, Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen, and Marion Weiss.

Aki Di Sandro standing on a sidewalk in downtown Philadelphia.

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.

2 min. read

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

Jessica Mach standing outside with her arm resting on a low brick wall

Fine art and design using artificial intelligence

Through the design course Artificial Intelligence in Art, second-year Jessica Mach has discovered AI's potential through creating several projects, including a video story and an interactive game.