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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

The bullet train turns 60
An Amtrak Acela train with the Philadelphia city skyline in the background

An Amtrak Acela passenger train heads south after leaving 30th Street Station.

(Image: AP Photo/David Boe)

The bullet train turns 60

In both Asia and Europe, high-speed rail knits regions, countries, and continents together. What will it take to see more rail infrastructure in the U.S.?

Kristina García

‘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

How food moves around cities
Penn students walking through Norris Square Neighborhood Project’s community garden.

(On homepage) Students walk through the Norris Square Neighborhood Project’s community garden.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

How food moves around cities

Domenic Vitiello, an urban and regional planning expert, teaches classes that invite students to locations in and around Philadelphia to better understand how its denizens dine.

5 min. read

Animating for impact
Cartoon-stylized person compassionately touching an elderly person's face.

A still from "Mother," an animated short film about Hong's grandfather’s life, from losing his mother at a young age to building his own family.

(Image: Ejun Hong)

Animating for impact

Funded by RealArts@Penn, rising fourth-year Ejun Hong is spending the summer interning with Sony Pictures in Los Angeles.
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

Drawn to ArtWell
Natalie Cheng hanging paper artworks on a wall

Natalie Cheng, a rising second-year student, is focusing on communications and design during a summer internship with the Philadelphia nonprofit ArtWell. She is one of two Penn interns there this year, supported by the University's Summer Humanities Internship Program. 

(Image: Courtesy of ArtWell) 

Drawn to ArtWell

Drawn by their interests in art, design, and support for children in Philadelphia, two Penn students in the College of Arts and Sciences, Natalie Cheng and Aled Dillabough, are working as interns this summer at the nonprofit ArtWell.
Four academic journeys explored
Vijay Balasubramanian writes equations on a whiteboard with a graduate student

Younger scientists often ask him about exploring multiple fields, Balasubramanian says. The advice he offers is to “have a central line where you have credibility, where you’ve established that you’re really, really good at what you do, and you can be trusted.”

(Image: Eric Sucar)

Four academic journeys explored

Vijay Balasubramanian and Tukufu Zuberi in the School of Arts & Sciences, Amy Hillier in the School of Social Policy & Practice, and Brittany Watson in the School of Veterinary Medicine share their academic paths toward interdisciplinary work.

Kristina García