Design | Penn Today

Not over the hill: ‘Design With Nature,’ Ian McHarg’s landmark book of ecological design turns 50

Bill Whitaker of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design spoke about Penn landscape architect Ian McHarg’s influence on ecological design and city planning. “He realized that people paid attention when you had scientific information and you had hard facts,” said Whitaker.

The Green New Deal could change the way America builds—here’s how

Billy Fleming of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design discussed some possible outcomes of the Green New Deal. In addition to its ecological effects, Fleming anticipates accompanying structural changes. “We’re going to need to do many different things in terms of injecting design expertise into the federal bureaucracy,” he said. “Some of that will involve simply just creating more pathways for designers coming out of graduate school to take jobs in the federal government that are already there.”

‘Design with Nature,’ 50 years later

Beginning on the Summer Solstice, the Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology at the Weitzman School is presenting Design With Nature Now, a multi-platform exploration of the legacy of visionary environmental planner and landscape architect Ian L. McHarg.

Stonewall anniversary exhibit reflects 50 years of struggle, celebration

“Tonight is Forever,” a new exhibit at the William Way LGBT Community Center created by Stuart Weitzman School of Design Senior Lecturer Gabriel Martinez, is on display through June 28.

George Nakashima’s Arts Building, the facade of the house with a portico and a small pond surrounded by stones.

Protecting historic places at various life stages

A new Master of Science in Design with a concentration in Historic Preservation degree program kicked off at the Weitzman School in the fall of 2018. Now, members of the inaugural class are working on a capstone project on the George Nakashima House.

We are not prepared for the next generation of CGI food

The School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Chenfanfu Jiang; postdoc Ming Gao; Ph.D. students Joshuah Wolper, Yu Fang, and Minchen Li; and undergrad Jiecong Lu have developed two new approaches to animating dynamic fractures, like bread tearing or cars crashing.

Student group increases the visibility of women in architecture

The members of PennDesign Women in Architecture have created community that increases the visibility and voices of women in architecture, and brings awareness to the gender disparity in the profession.

Schuylkill Yards development may rest on the Quaker dead

David Brownlee of the School of Arts and Sciences and Aaron Wunsch of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design commented on the existence of historic graveyards beneath the Schuylkill Yards development near Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station.

Protecting the planet at Penn

Earth Day and every day, the University community is at work to make the world a little better. Here are some highlights from those efforts.

Eastern Pennsylvania's population growth bypasses western Pa.

Domenic Vitiello of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design weighed in on Pennsylvania’s shifts in population. “Pennsylvania remains very much a Rust Belt state,” he said. “But it’s heartening that we’re not declining as precipitously as we were in the 1970s or 1980s.”

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