Design | Penn Today

The best trees to reduce air pollution

Stephanie Carlisle of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design spoke about high hopes for the use of urban trees to mitigate air pollution. “Some designers have a tendency to think in terms of objects rather than a complex ecological system,” she said. “But without a holistic understanding of urban ecosystems, the risk is to do more harm than good.”

A professor and two children eating from bowls at a kitchen counter with a laptop computer open in front of them.

Dinner and a movie with Weitzman School’s Megan Ryerson

Striving to keep her students engaged, Megan Ryerson of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design invites them to virtually join in her family’s activities, including dinner discussions and movie nights with transportation-themed films.

Giant concrete umbrellas could protect the lucky ones

Daniel Aldana Cohen of the School of Arts and Sciences expressed skepticism about a proposed design for adaptable seawalls on beaches. “A lot of new developments that had a basically a harder infrastructure quality ended up splashing water onto adjacent places and flooding them more,” he said. “So with this project, if you imagine this as a defense of one beach, even if it’s successful, it’s going to probably cause more flooding...next door.”

‘If you don’t have to ride, please don’t’: SEPTA, PATCO further reduce service

Meg Ryerson of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design commented on the continued operation of public transit systems during the pandemic. “They’re not private companies out to make money,” she said. “They operate because they’re here to provide mobility in regions. That’s really incredible, to think that their mission is to be there for you during disaster times, and there for you in the best of times, and everything in between.”

How Philly’s neighborhoods can help us understand pandemics

David Barnes of the School of Arts and Sciences, Eugenie Birch of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and Susan Wachter of the Wharton School weighed in on how Philadelphia has historically handled epidemics, how these approaches have shaped the city over time, and what can be done now to manage COVID-19.

a brick building with white detailing and in front is a green field with a statue surrounded by yellow flowers

Conserving the nation’s first chartered hospital

The Stuart Weitzman School of Design’s PennPraxis and the Center for Architectural Conservation will examine, assess, and prioritize the conservation of the buildings, grounds, and collections of the Pennsylvania Hospital.

group in front of screen with light projected on it

Sharon Hayes on performance art

Having come of age in New York City during the AIDS crisis, artist Sharon Hayes has always made work connected to political movements. She blends performance with installation and video to create large-scale works that explore the relationship between “the private and the public; the personal and the political.”

Bright lights, big city: How Philly’s new streetlights could make us safer

Erick Guerra of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design explained why night is the most dangerous time for pedestrians. “A lot of things happen at night,” he said. “People are more likely to be drunk, people are driving faster because there’s less congestion, people are paying less attention. We get worse driving on a variety of dimensions.”

defunct factory with green Lehigh Valley in background

Picturing the future Lehigh Valley

Penn Praxis is a Design Partner with the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, along with a team of Design Fellows, to design a 25-year plan for the region called Future LV for ecological health and quality of life in cities, towns, and undeveloped areas.

View of white garments hanging at the Designs for Different Futures exhibit, with a white shirt on a stand and a futuristic wheelchair and mechanical upright walking device on display.

Designs for what the future can be

The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s “Designs for Different Futures” exhibition includes contributions and installations from several Penn faculty and alumni who seek to answer questions about what the not-so-distant future may look like.

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