Research

Research Labs

robotic arms

Advanced Research and Innovation Lab (ARI) abstract linear structure

abstract linear structure

Polyhedral Structures Lab (PSL) aerial image of stadium

aerial image of stadium

Center for Environmental Building and Design (CEBD) people at art gallery pointing to an object

people at art gallery pointing to an object

Baroque Topologies glowing 3d cubic structures

glowing 3d cubic structures

Immersive Kinematics Lab Thermal Architectural Lab

Thermal Architectural Lab

Thermal Architectural Lab DumoLab

DumoLab

DumoLab Research (DLR)

Research Projects

Setting up instruments.

Designing the Ger of the 21st Century - 2018-19 Working with UNICEF and the Mongolian non-profit GerHub, a team from PennDesign’s Center for Environmental Building and Design and KieranTimberlake Architects is auditing the thermal performance of six improved ger at a test site and five occupied ger in the ger district of Ulaanbaatar.

Studio Collaboration with Seoul National University Under the direction of Associate Professor Simon Kim, PennDesign participates in an ongoing collaboration with Seoul National University (SNU). These intiatives are supported by Heerim Architects and Planners, a global leader in architecture and construction.

Partnership with Egyptian Ministry of Culture The Department of Architecture's ongoing collaboration with the Ministry of Culture in Cairo has included an exhibit in the Egyptian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale and earned a studio prize from the American Institute of Architects.

Research Publications

Strut-Based Cellular to Shellular Funicular Materials Assistant Professor of Architecture Masoud Akbarzadeh was the principal investigator of research published in the journal, Advanced Functional Materials with an impact factor of 18.81.

Excerpt: Ali Rahim and Hina Jamelle on an Architecture of Impact Ali Rahim, professor of architecture and director of the MSD-AAD program, and Hina Jamelle, senior lecturer in architecture and director of urban housing, take on the theme of Impact in the September 2020 issue of Architectural Design (Volume 90, Issue 5).

'Under Pressure: Essays on Urban Housing' Under Pressure: Essays on Urban Housing (Routledge, 2021), edited by Hina Jamelle, senior lecturer and director of urban housing in the Department of Architecture, gathers and contextualizes recent conversations on urban housing through a design lens.

Conferences / Papers

Map of Philadelphia with colored zones

Metabolism of Urban Location: Travel Time and the Morphology of Cities This paper examines the metabolism of urban location, which is offered as a contribution to the expansion of urban metabolism analysis beyond the largely biophysical methods of mass-energy-balance