Design | Penn Today

Eboni Senai Hawkins and Sean Dajour Smith

Moelis Fellowships brings African-American and Latinx students to city planning

The Department of City and Regional Planning is welcoming the first cohort of Moelis Scholars, a new program open to African-American and Latinx students who are thinking about pursuing careers in housing and community and economic development.

The housing market is fueling our collective climate denial

Billy Fleming of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design said the U.S. needs to take action when it comes to preparing for climate change. “Every day we do not spend organizing communities around this question of ‘how do we leave and where do we go?’ is just making all of these other decisions harder and more expensive down the road.”

As sea levels rise, is Philadelphia International Airport in danger from storm surge?

Billy Fleming of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design explained why many airports are at risk of flooding as climate change progresses. “We build most of our big international airports in some of our lowest-lying places because at the time of building, that land was very cheap,” he said. “This is the logic of land development in most of the United States: to put all of the things we want out of sight and out of mind in our most vulnerable landscapes.”

Students examine Queen Puabi's Haddress through glass case

Five events to watch for in November

On the calendar for November around campus: an art party at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Penn Museum's annual Student Gala, and much more.

Mark Alan Hughes at his desk standing and talking with associates by windows in the sunlight.

Leading the way in the field of energy policy

During two decades at Penn, Mark Alan Hughes has made the University a leader in the field of energy policy—and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

Cover of book by Sonja Dümpelmann, "Seeing Trees: A History of Street Trees in New York City and Berlin"

A Q&A with landscape historian Sonja Dümpelmann

Landscape historian and standing faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Weitzmann School Sonja Dümpelmann discusses her new book, “Seeing Trees: A History of Street Trees in New York City and Berlin.

Two people pulling cloth off of bronze bust next to a podium with third person looking on

‘Power of design’

In a ceremony Thursday afternoon, President Amy Gutmann celebrated the naming of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design and Stuart Weitzman Plaza. Weitzman, the designer and footwear industry icon, graduated from the Wharton School in 1963.

America’s great climate exodus is starting in the Florida Keys

Billy Fleming of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design commented on ad hoc efforts by local and state governments to fund buyouts for homeowners in flood-prone areas. “The scale of this is almost unfathomable,” he said. “If we take any of the climate science seriously, we’re down to the last 10 to 12 years to mobilize the full force of the government and move on managed retreat. If we don’t, it won’t matter, because much of America will be underwater or on fire.”

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