Virtual Weitzman School Talks

On Friday, May 14, 2021, the Weitzman School of Design Office of Development and Alumni Relations held a virtual talk on the work and legacy of Julian Abele.

Julian Abele (BArch1902) was the first African American to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Architecture. During Abele’s time at Penn, he forged a special bond with classmate Louis Magaziner (BArch1900), the first Jewish student to graduate from the School of Architecture.

Magaziner's great-grandniece, Amy Cohen (MA’01) and Abele’s great-grandnephew, Peter Cook, discussed the two architects’ enduring friendship and the legacy of their work. The virtual talk was be moderated by Mark Gardner (MArch’00).

On Thursday, March 25, 2021, the Weitzman School of Design Office of Development and Alumni Relations welcomed John Hoke, (MArch’92), Chief Design Officer, NIKE, Inc., for a virtual talk moderated by Sarah Rottenberg, adjunct assistant professor and executive director, Integrated Product Design Program at the University of Pennsylvania, and hosted by Charlette Caldwell (MSHP'16), Penn Weitzman Alumni Association Board President and Research Fellow, The Center for the Preservation of Civil Rights Sites.

What role do curiosity and empathy play in design? How can diversity and sustainability fuel innovation? This talk will explore issues of equity and access in design, and dive into how creativity shapes a more desirable future. John Hoke spoke on his journey to Nike, the design principles and values he’s inculcated there, and why the value of critical thinking and creative problem solving endures.

On February 18, Weitzman Development and Alumni Relations in partnership with Designers & Books presented a special conversation with the three children of influential architect Louis I. Kahn, to celebrate the 120th anniversary of his birth. The three speakers, all accomplished artists in their own right — in music, painting, and film—discussed their father’s influence, as well recollections of him, his continuing legacy, and his relevance in the world today.

Speakers:

Sue Ann Kahn, CW'61 

Alexandra Tyng, MSED'77

Nathaniel Kahn

Moderator

Richard Saul Wurman, BArch'58, MArch'59

Host

Charlette Caldwell, MSHP’16, President of the Penn Weitzman Alumni Association

Weitzman's Office of Development and Alumni Relations organized a virtual conversation with Stuart Weitzman (W’63) and Wendy Evans Joseph (C'77) to discuss their careers and how designers successfully build creative networks with business clients. This talk was moderated by Mark Gardner (MArch’00).
 

A conversation with Monica Rhodes (MSHP’12), Professor Randall Mason, and Mark Gardner (March’00) on preserving the legacy of civil rights history, and the creation of a new center at the Weitzman School focused on the preservation of civil rights sites.

Presenters:

Speakers:

Monica Rhodes (MSHP’12)
Director of Resource Management at the National Park Foundation

Professor Randall Mason
Associate Professor, the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation
Associate Professor of City & Regional Planning
Senior Fellow, PennPraxis

Moderator:

Mark Gardner (MArch’00)
Principal at Jaklitsch / Gardner Architects.

Host:

Charlette Caldwell (MSHP’16)

Penn Weitzman Alumni Association Board President
PhD Student, Columbia University
Research Fellow, The Center for the Preservation of Civil Rights Sites

Related Links

https://www.design.upenn.edu/cpcrs/about

How do architects design practices that engage with the community and the culture of architecture through building? For these west coast architects, designing practice means foregrounding design, but also relates to making choices about how to run their offices while at the same time, looking at what projects to pursue, shaping a place for their teams to thrive in, and creating opportunities for their communities through architectural advocacy.

Presenters:

Rudabeh Pakravan (MArch’00)
Principal, Sidell Pakravan Architects

Kristen Sidell (MArch’00)
Principal, Sidell Pakravan Architects

Maxine Skaggs Kennedy (MArch’00)
Principal, Studio Skaggs Kennedy

Moderator:

Susan Kolber (MArch and MLA ’20)

Host

Charlette Caldwell (MSHP’16)
Penn Weitzman Alumni Association Board President
PhD Student, Columbia University
Research Fellow, The Center for the Preservation of Civil Rights Sites

Related Links

Studio Skaggs Kennedy studiosk.net/

Sidell Pakravan Architects sidellpakravan.com/

How does the climate crisis, Black Lives Matter, and social justice impact the work of the architect? How do we take part and take action, working across disciplines to create positive change? This talk will investigate the effects of action on institutions, fields of study and practice, and the shape of design itself.

Presenters:

Vanessa Keith (MArch’00)
Principal, Studioteka Design, Lecturer in Architecture, Weitzman School of Design

Julie Torres Moskovitz (MArch’00)
Principal, Fete Nature Architecture, PLLC
P/T Instructor, Syracuse University

Moderator:

Susan Kolber (MArch’20 MLA’20)

Related links:

Studioteka: www.studioteka.com

2100 A Dystopian Utopia Book: https://www.urpub.org/books/2100

2100 E Book: https://www.urpub.org/books/2100-a-dystopian-utopia-e-book-edition

Metropolis: https://www.metropolismag.com/architecture/2100-dystopian-utopia-book-studioteka/

Landscape Architecture Magazine: https://landscapearchitecturemagazine.org/2017/05/11/thrive-or-survive/

FNA: https://www.fnarchitecture.com/  

The Greenest Home Book: https://papress.com/products/the-greenest-home-superinsulated-and-passive-house-design  

Women (Re)Build Book: https://www.appliedresearchanddesign.com/product/women-rebuild/  Bartuskaite)

How is Black life generative in the design and planning of cities? What are the paths forward for a discourse and practice of Black Urbanism? How are Black urbanists defining themselves and the often overlooked blindspot of Blackness in relation to the larger urbanist professions?

Presenters:
Dr. Matthew Jordan Miller, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, Weitzman
Principal & Global Director of Design, Gensler

Sara Zewde
Principal, Studio Zewde

Moderator:
Mark Gardner (MArch’00)
Principal, Jaklitsch/Gardner Architects, professor of Architectural Practice & Society, School of Constructed Environments at Parsons the New School, and member of the Weitzman School Board of Overseers.

Related Links
Studio Zewde
“Black Scholar Makes His Mark on Urban Planning” Philadelphia Tribune
Valongo Wharf Africatown
Breathing Monuments poem

What will a post-pandemic world look like? There is no doubt that design will have a big role to play, especially since there are opportunities for design intervention everywhere we look. Now is the time for us to rethink how we design our new buildings and reimagine our current ones. This conversation will touch on the ways design can make a difference in a post-pandemic world.

Presenter:
Jordan Goldstein (MArch’96), FIIDA, FAIA
Principal & Global Director of Design, Gensler

Moderator:
Sarah Rottenberg
Adjunct Assistant Professor and Executive Director, Integrated Product Design Program at the University of Pennsylvania

Related Links
"Jordan Goldstein is Disrupting Your Post-COVID Work Life,” Disruptor Series Podcast
“Design responds to a changing world,” Gensler Research and Insight
“An Architecture of Optimism for a Post-Pandemic Society,” Gensler Research and Insight blog, by Jordan Goldstein
“Building a bridge for L.A.’s homeless population,” By Rob Jernigan and James Kelly, Gensler Research and Insight