PennPraxis

A person drills into a wooden structure
West Philadelphia High School students designing and building a new gathering space on their campus under Praxis’ leadership. (Image source: Tyger Williams for the Inquirer)
A group of people standing in a circle in the woods
Landscape and Fine Arts Design Fellows helping document Ceremonial Stone Landscapes for the Ramapough Lenape Turtle Clan.
Three people meeting at a table
Participants in the Praxis designed Emerging Leaders Program.
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West Philadelphia High School students designing and building a new gathering space on their campus under Praxis’ leadership. (Image source: Tyger Williams for the Inquirer)
Landscape and Fine Arts Design Fellows helping document Ceremonial Stone Landscapes for the Ramapough Lenape Turtle Clan.
Participants in the Praxis designed Emerging Leaders Program.

PennPraxis is the applied research, engagement, and practice arm at the Weitzman School of Design. We collaborate with students, clients, and community organizers to develop tools, strategies, and design interventions that imagine new futures for both urban and rural landscapes. Our goal is to share power with historically marginalized peoples, create equity, and generate new resources to address the most pressing social and environmental problems of the 21st century.

 

Message from a Design Fellow

As a native West Philadelphian, I was elated to participate in projects that forced us to think critically about the design process while living through the pandemic, gentrification in Philadelphia, and increasing violence involving our youth. It was rewarding to empower residents to be change agents in their neighborhoods and to vocalize their perspectives, [which] are often left out of decision-making processes.