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Habitat for Humanity is developing a new Atlanta community with help from the Carters’ initiative

Habitat for Humanity is developing a new Atlanta community with help from the Carters’ initiative

Speaking about Habitat for Humanity, Vincent Reina of the Weitzman School of Design says, “They can still be true to their core mission, which is advancing homeownership opportunities, but they are also acknowledging that we need a diverse set of housing solutions to really meet the needs of individual.”

Kennett Square wants to limit how many houses become Airbnbs. It’s not the first time it’s come up in Chesco

Kennett Square wants to limit how many houses become Airbnbs. It’s not the first time it’s come up in Chesco

Vincent Reina of the Weitzman School of Design comments on the price of housing, saying, “By virtue of kind of decreasing the supply of the normal rental housing stock, you're essentially creating more demand for the existing units that are there.”

Weitzman externships in retrospect: Xindi Lyu
Xindi Lyu.

Master of city planning candidate Xindi Lyu.

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Weitzman externships in retrospect: Xindi Lyu

The master of city planning candidate worked at a Kansas City firm to see how different design practices engage with urban design and planning.

From the Weitzman School of Design

2 min. read

A design fall studio brings interdisciplinary thinking to Philly’s historic and commercial core
Philadelphia’s Market Street east of City Hall in 1889.

Philadelphia’s Market Street east of City Hall in 1889.

(Image: John Gibb, Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Print and Picture Collection)

A design fall studio brings interdisciplinary thinking to Philly’s historic and commercial core

Studio Plus design students at Weitzman focused on working through the future of Philadelphia’s Market East neighborhood, and explored issues of historic preservation, urban planning, and housing.

2 min. read

Stefan Hatch: Tackling housing insecurity
Stefan Hatch stands in the McNeil Building.

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Stefan Hatch: Tackling housing insecurity

Fourth-year Stefan Hatch is researching one of Philadelphia’s most pressing challenges: housing insecurity. The double major combines urban studies and psychology to explore solutions.

2 min. read

20 breakthroughs of 2025
Masoud Akbarzadeh holding up one of the fabricated materials.

The Polyhedral Structures Laboratory is housed at the Pennovation Center and brings together designers, engineers, and computer scientists to reimagine the built world. Using graphic statics, a method where forces are mapped as lines, they design forms that balance compression and tension. These result in structures that use far fewer materials while remaining strong and efficient.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

20 breakthroughs of 2025

From ancient tombs and tiny robots to personalized gene editing and AI weather models, Penn’s 2025 research portfolio showed how curiosity—paired with collaboration—moves knowledge into impact and stretches across disciplines and continents.

5 min. read

Air travel quandary: Gad Allon and Megan Ryerson on challenges and solutions
Travelers in a busy security checkpoint at an airport.

Travelers at a security checkpoint at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago during the government shutdown in November.

(Image: Nam Y. Huh via Getty Images)

  • Q&A

    • Air travel quandary: Gad Allon and Megan Ryerson on challenges and solutions

    The recent government shutdown exposed long-standing issues facing commercial air travel. Leading into Thanksgiving holiday travel, Gad Allon of the Wharton School and Megan Ryerson of the Weitzman School of Design discuss the system’s infrastructure challenges and the need for workforce development.

    4 min. read