PennPraxis is the non-profit arm of University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design that supports thought leadership and design action to advance inclusion, innovation and impact in places that don’t usually get the benefit of design—more than 95% of the world. Praxis does projects that demonstrate the power of interdisciplinary design, art, planning and heritage preservation to respond to the major challenges of the built and natural environments, and the communities that inhabit them.
PennPraxis began the Design Fellows Program in 2018, which was an enormous success. Praxis hired and trained 7 students from 4 countries and 3 departments from Weitzman School to work on projects with low budgets that wouldn’t have happened without us. The fellows designed a series of beautiful measures to fight placeless sprawl around Allentown, visualized complex recommendations of a development and equity plan in Connecticut, designed the public realm framework for a rural redevelopment in New York, and launched an extraordinary landscape, heritage, and infrastructure design effort for 14 miles of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor.
PennPraxis is now raising money support the 2019 Design Fellows Program. The pilot Design Fellows Program was enabled by the generous support of donors including alumni and community partners through PennPraxis 15-15-15 campaign in 2017. Many more students are now asking for the same opportunity, based on word-of-mouth about this challenging and rewarding summer design experience.
This unique program creates opportunities for students to work “beyond the market,” helping to cultivate the next generation of leaders, and create positive social impact through interdisciplinary design, art, planning and heritage preservation.
Expand Image
