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Design

The new monuments that America needs

The new monuments that America needs

Paul Farber and Ken Lum of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design and Philadelphia’s Monument Lab spoke about the dismantling of problematic statues and the process of democratically designing new ones. People have been taught to interpret statues “as unitary and their message as unified, rooted in consensus, as opposed to rooted in a subjective decision that is only a reflection of a segment of the community that had power,” said Lum.

Weitzman team takes on preservation work at Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial illuminated at dusk overlooking the Potomac River.

Weitzman team takes on preservation work at Lincoln Memorial

PennPraxis is continuing its partnership with the National Park Service on a cultural inventory and landscape project at the Lincoln Memorial, its most high-profile project to date.

From the Weitzman School of Design

How to put up monuments that truly recon with American History

How to put up monuments that truly recon with American History

Paul Farber of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design and Center for Public Art and Space visiting scholar Sue Mobley spoke about President Trump’s proposed National Garden of American Heroes and proposed a new democratic process for creating monuments. “History doesn’t fit well in statues,” said Mobley. “Movements don’t fit well in summaries; they’re ongoing.”

Maps, pandemics, and reckoning with history
Forthcoming

Forthcoming

Maps, pandemics, and reckoning with history

Geospatial data has long been an important tool for scientists and scholars, but now, as society grapples with both coronavirus and a history of systemic racism, can maps help chart a path toward a brighter future?

Erica K. Brockmeier

Expressions of color, comfort, and creativity in the fight against COVID-19
designs for drive thru and walk up testing sites in pastel colors

Expressions of color, comfort, and creativity in the fight against COVID-19

With many summer internships disrupted by the pandemic, the Architecture Department at Penn partnered with Surface magazine to create the Summer School at Penn, a month-long virtual lecture series and design competition.

Erica K. Brockmeier

Offsetting carbon emissions, one ton at a time
solar panels in a field

Offsetting carbon emissions, one ton at a time

Carbon offsets are a small but meaningful market in its mission to contribute to greenhouse gas reducing industries and practices in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere.
Design travels to South Carolina to plan more protective urban coastlines
Aerial view of a South Carolina coastal municipality map diagramed for design purposes

Aerial view of Imagine the Wall, Charleston, a proposal for the South Carolina coastal city. (Image: Weitzman School)

Design travels to South Carolina to plan more protective urban coastlines

A Weitzman School team is working with the city of Charleston on an urban seawall plan that combines natural elements with structural systems that respond to the local conditions of the city’s shoreline.

From the Weitzman School of Design

Understanding infrastructure
Pedestrians lounging around a city filled with bicycles, cars, and airplanes

Understanding infrastructure

In the second episode of Penn Today’s “Understand This ...” podcast series, emphasizing interdisciplinary perspectives, a Wharton and Weitzman School discuss the past, present, and future of infrastructure.
‘We don’t see the refinery starting’: PES site’s new owner envisions an ‘environmentally conscious’ commercial hub

‘We don’t see the refinery starting’: PES site’s new owner envisions an ‘environmentally conscious’ commercial hub

Mark Allan Hughes of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design and Kleinman Center for Energy Policy spoke about new plans for the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery complex in Southwest Philadelphia. “Not having a refinery there ends a long environmental justice travesty and puts Philadelphia on the right side of energy history,” he said.