Spring 2025 Lecture Series Opens January 22

From renewable energy infrastructure and neighborhood change to the future of the Amazon Rainforest and the US space complex, architects, artists, preservationists, and planners are confronting generational challenges and opportunities. The Weitzman Spring 2025 Lecture Series brings together built environment professionals, authors, climate activists, ecologists, energy specialists, and photographers to discuss the ways in which art, design, and policy can improve people's quality of life, and advance social and environmental justice.

The series will explore the lessons that can be learned about climate action and coexistence from studying the Amazon; how Black neighborhoods have evolved over the last 50 years; the planning that went into the design for a major makeover of The Art Institute of Chicago; and the ways to use data to help the public make better decisions when choosing a point of interest, from education facilities to entertainment venues. The series begins with a talk by Kazuyo Sejima, co-founder of the Tokyo-based architectural firm SANAA, who will accept the 2024 Kanter Tritsch Medal in Architecture.

Among the scheduled speakers:

• Jonathan Thompson, Senior Ecologist and Research Director, Harvard Forest
• Junya Ishigami, Founding Architect, junya.ishigami+associates
• Andrew Lee, Author
• David Malda, Principal, GGN
• Billie Tsien, Founding Partner, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
• Leslie Thornton, Artist

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, January 22, 6:00pm
2024 Weitzman School Awards: Philadelphia
SANAA
Kanter Tritsch Medal in Architecture
Kazuyo Sejima, Co-Founder, SANAA
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street

Thursday, January 23, 12:00pm
Preservation Challenges: Interpretation and Replication of Historic Paint Finishes
Dorothy Krotzer, Director, Building Conservation Associates
Presented by the Department of Historic Preservation

Thursday, January 23, 6:30pm
Mise-en-Scène: The Lives and Afterlives of Urban Landscapes
Chris Reed, Founding Director, STOSS
Mike Belleme, Photographer
Presented by The Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology

Wednesday, January 29, 6:30pm
The Cunningham Lecture
Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Partner, Bjarke Ingels Group
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Tuesday, February 4, 12:00pm
Where the Hood At? Fifty Years of Change in Black Neighborhoods
Michael Lens, Professor of Urban Planning & Public Policy, University of California, Los Angeles
Presented by the Department of City & Regional Planning

Wednesday, February 5, 6:30pm
The EwingCole Lecture
Boonserm Premthada, Founder, Bangkok Project Studio
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, February 6, 6:00pm
Weitzman Fine Arts Lectures at the ICA
Leslie Thornton
Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street
Presented by the Department of Fine Arts

Thursday, February 6, 6:30pm
The Anne Whiston Spirn Lecture
Snøhetta Landscapes
Michelle Delk, Laurie Olin Professor of Practice in Landscape Architecture and Partner, Snøhetta
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Friday, February 7
Architectures and Ecologies of Amazonia Symposium
Vanessa Grossman, Assistant Professor of Architecture
Catherine Seavitt, Meyerson Professor and Chair of Landscape Architecture
Vanda Witoto, Climate Activist (Keynote)
Emanuele Coccia, Associate Professor, École des hautes études en sciences sociale (Keynote)
Presented by the Department of Architecture, Department of Landscape Architecture, and The Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology

Monday, February 10, 6:00pm
Bio/Matter/Techno/Synthetics: Design Futures for the More than Human
Franca Trubiano, Associate Professor of Architecture
Amber Farrow
Maria Jose Fuentes
Susan Kolber
Marta Llor

Monday, February 10 – Friday, February 14
Energy Week at Penn 2025
Various locations
Hosted by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology

Tuesday, February 11, 12:00pm
From Forests to Farmlands: Navigating the Tradeoffs in Land Use for Renewable Energy
Jonathan Thompson, Senior Ecologist and Research Director, Harvard Forest
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy

Thursday, February 13, 12:00pm
Lara Davis, Founding Principal, Limaçon Design
Presented by the Department of Historic Preservation

Thursday, February 13, 12:30pm
Conservative and Concerned About Climate Change? You’re Not Alone
Bob Inglis, Executive Director, republicEn.org
Michael Mann, Presidential Distinguished Professor, Earth and Environmental Science
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy

Thursday, February 13, 6:30pm
Garnette Cadogan, Tuney Lee Distinguished Lecturer in Urbanism, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Friday, February 14, 12:00pm
Distributed Capacity Procurement: A New Tool for Utilities
Pier LaFarge, CEO, Sparkfund
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy

Tuesday, February 18, 12:00pm
The Ken Steif Lecture
Enriching Points of Interest (PoI) Data with Visitor Diversity, Chain/Independent Designation, and Popularity with Social Relationships
Clio Andris, Associate Professor of City & Regional Planning and Interactive Computing, Georgia Tech
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Urban Spatial Analytics Program

Thursday, February 27, 6:30pm
Ground Control: Technical Lands for Departing Earth
Jeffrey Nesbit, Lecturer in City & Regional Planning
Presented by The Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology

Tuesday, March 4, 12:00pm
Getting Real About Net-Zero
Niall Mac Dowel, Professor of Future Energy Systems, Imperial College London
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy

Thursday, March 6, 12:00pm
Change Over Time Dialogues: Civil Rights Work as a Global Strategy of Resistance and Resilience?
Kwesi Daniels, Head of the Architecture Department, Tuskegee University
Kecia Fong, Editor, Change Over Time
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Department of Historic Preservation

Thursday, March 6, 6:00pm
Weitzman Fine Arts Lectures at the ICA
BlackMass
Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street
Presented by the Department of Fine Arts

Tuesday, March 18, 12:00pm
Defying Displacement
Andrew Lee, Author
Akira Drake Rodriguez, Assistant Professor of City & Regional Planning
Presented by the Department of City & Regional Planning and Penn Institute for Urban Research

Wednesday, March 19, 6:30pm
The Turner Construction Lecture
Fabrizio Barozzi, Co-founder, Barozzi Veiga
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, March 20 – Friday, March 21
Resources, Resilience, and Resistance | Penn PhD in Architecture: 60 Years of Scholarship and Research
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, March 20, 6:30pm
Making Landscapes: A Relational Practice
David Malda, Principal, GGN
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Wednesday, March 26, 6:30pm
The Brummer Lecture
Billie Tsien, Founding Partner, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Wednesday, April 2, 6:30pm
The KPF Lecture
Junya Ishigami, Founding Architect, junya.ishigami+associates
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Department of Architecture

Thursday, April 10 – Friday, April 11
Proxy Landscapes
Robert Gerard Pietrusko, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture
Susan Schuppli, Professor and Director, Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths, University of London (Keynote)
Various locations
Presented by The Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology

Thursday, April 10, 6:00pm
Diane Severin Nguyen
Presented by the Department of Fine Arts

Thursday, April 17, 6:30pm
Jardineros
Michelle Franco, Founder, Más Común
Kleinman Energy Forum, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Thursday, April 24, 6:30pm
McHarg Fellow Lecture
Leah Kahler, 2024-2025 McHarg Fellow
Presented by The Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology