PennPraxis is the center for applied research, outreach, and practice at the University of Pennsylvania's Weitzman School of Design. We provide opportunities for multi-disciplinary student and faculty collaboration through practice projects and fee-for-service consulting, which is distinct from the research undertaken by our colleagues through the School. We work with clients in Philadelphia, the surrounding region, and in other cities/regions across the globe. We pursue projects that are in line with our practice areas, or brought in through our faculty collaborators, whose expertise and areas of focus are as diverse as they are vast.
Each and every project we take on includes collaboration with diverse voices and expertise, both within the University and the communities in which we work. Each project includes collaboration with Weitzman School faculty, and we partner with community organizations/liaisons in Philadelphia, or the area in which we are working, to make sure that local expertise is central to project development from beginning to end. We understand that expertise comes as much from lived experience as it does from traditional education and practice.
PennPraxis' work draws on the Weitzman School of Design's five departments and programs (Architecture, Landscape Architecture, City & Regional Planning, Historic Preservation, and Fine Arts). Our primary areas of practice include: Design, Planning, Spatial Analysis, Heritage Planning, and Evaluation. Explore our publications and completed work across all of our practice areas here.