Fall 2025 Lecture Series Opens September 3

From rethinking America’s highway system to reimagining forest and wildfire management and tracking the effects of technology on human life in the 21st century, the speakers in the Weitzman Fall 2025 Lecture Series offer perspective on some of the most pressing issues facing built environment professionals, cultural leaders, and policy makers today.

In keeping with the Weitzman School of Design’s interdisciplinary mission, the series will explore adaptive reuse in the context of urban housing, the development of six miles of parks along the Mississippi River, the photography of renowned architect and planner Denise Scott Brown, and the recently-reopened pavilions at the contemporary art museum Glenstone. The series begins on Wednesday, September 3, with a talk by architect Takaharu Tezuka, whose firm’s projects include a circular kindergarten school in Japan modeled on a village.

Among the scheduled speakers:

• Thomas Phifer, Architect
• Josh Kline, Artist
• David Konisky, Energy Policy Specialist
• Alma Du Soleir, Landscape Architect
• Erica Avrami, Preservationist

Admission is free and open to the public; advance registration is required for some events. Unless noted otherwise, lectures take place at Meyerson Hall, 210 South 34th Street, Philadelphia.

Visitors who require any accessibility accommodation, such as live captioning, audio description, or a sign language interpreter, are advised to email news@design.upenn.edu at least 5 business days in advance.

Because information is subject to change, visitors are advised to consult www.design.upenn.edu/calendar to confirm program details.

Select lectures are eligible for continuing education credit. Contact the presenting department or center for more information.

Wednesday, September 3, 6:30pm
Architecture for Sharing
Takaharu Tezuka, Tezuka Architects
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Friday, September 12, 6:00pm
Remembering Richard Weller
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Monday, September 15, 6:30pm
Encounters: Denise Scott Brown Photographs
Izzy Kornblatt
Lars Müller, Lars Müller Publishers
Joan Ockman, University of Pennsylvania
William Whitaker, University of Pennsylvania Presented by the Architectural Archives
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Architectural Archives

Wednesday, September 17, 6:00pm
The Jeffrey Fine (C'76, MArch'78) and Andrea Katz Lecture
Dorte Mandrup, Dorte Mandrup Arkitekter A/S
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, September 18, 6:30pm
Perspectives: Interviews on Research
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology

Wednesday, September 24, 6:30pm
Kersten Geers, OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, September 25, 6:30pm
Public Realm Practice
Carol Coletta, Johns Hopkins University
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Wednesday, October 1, 6:30pm
Tiantian Xu, DnA Design and Architecture
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, October 2, 6:00pm
Josh Kline
Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street
Presented by the Department of Fine Arts

Tuesday, October 14, 4:00pm
The Human Costs of American Energy in Transition
Sanya Carley, University of Pennsylvania
David Konisky, Indiana University
Andy Stone, Energy Policy Now
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy

Thursday, October 16, 6:30pm
Public Realm Practice
Alma Du Soleir, Hood Design Studio
Gordon Gallery, Stuart Weitzman Hall, 205 South 34th Street
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Wednesday, October 22, 6:30pm
Thomas Phifer, Thomas Phifer and Partners
Gordon Gallery, Stuart Weitzman Hall, 205 South 34th Street
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, October 23, 6:00pm
Guadalupe Rosales
Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street
Presented by Fine Arts

Wednesday, October 29, Time TBD
Under Pressure 02: Commercial to Residential Building Panel on Urban Housing and Adaptive Reuse
Convened by Hina Jamelle, University of Pennsylvania
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Wednesday, November 5, 6:00pm
Moelis Lecture
Beatrice Sibblies, BOS Development
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Department of City & Regional Planning

Wednesday, November 5, 6:30pm
Abend Family Lecture
Jing Liu and Florian Idenburg, SO-IL
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, November 6, 6:00pm
Kenneth Tam
Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street
Presented by the Department of Fine Arts

Thursday, November 6, 6:30pm
Public Realm Practice
David Rubin, DAVID RUBIN Land Collective
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Tuesday, November 11, 12:00pm
Overbuilt: The High Costs and Low Rewards of US Highway Construction
Erick Guerra, University of Pennsylvania
Presented by the Department of City & Regional Planning and Penn IUR

Wednesday, November 12, 5:30pm
2025 Weitzman School Awards: Philadelphia
Marina Tabassum Architects
Green Heart Louisville

Thursday, November 13, 12:00pm
Second-Order Preservation
Erica Avrami, Columbia University
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Department of Historic Preservation

Thursday, November 13 – Friday, November14
Designing for Fire: Novel Wildfire and Forest Landscapes
Convened by Nicholas Pevzner, University of Pennsylvania
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology

Wednesday, November 19, 6:30pm
The Anne Whiston Spirn Lecture
Janet Echelman
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology

Friday, November 21, 6:00pm
LA+ Sense / LA+ Environment Launch
Karen M'Closkey, University of Pennsylvania
Catherine Seavitt, University of Pennsylvania
Presented by LA+ Journal and the Department of Landscape Architecture