Monday, November 30 – Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Reception: Monday, November 30 (time to be announced)
Dean’s Alley, Meyerson Hall, 210 South 34th Street
“Today definitely reminded me why I love Philadelphia.”
--Charlotte Castle, Executive Director, West Philadelphia Tool Library, upon completion of Restoring Buildings, Rebuilding Communities event
Throughout 2015, five teams of students from the University of Pennsylvania School of Design made a visible impact on communities across Philadelphia and beyond through the School’s first-ever Social Impact Projects. The five projects were awarded funding in December 2014 by the Office of the Dean at PennDesign in partnership with PennPraxis, the outreach, practice and professional arm of the School. The Social Impact Projects are intended to foster more cross-disciplinary collaboration at the School, encourage students to engage the community outside PennDesign, and apply their design skills for public good. Curated by PennPraxis Managing Director Julie Donofrio (MCP/MSHP ’07) and designed by PennDesign alumnus Kasey Short (MFA ‘15), this exhibition documents the work of these teams, both as a template for future project opportunities and as a call to action for all Philadelphians to apply their time and skills to give back to the community.
The projects kicked off in the spring of 2015 to be completed within the year. Projects focused on neighborhoods stretching from West Philadelphia to Kensington and South Philadelphia, while one project is national in scope. Students worked directly with schools, religious congregations, neighborhood associations and other community partners to determine the optimal schedule and location for installations intended to augment ongoing community-based efforts. The five project teams are representative of the wide array design disciplines taught at PennDesign—Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Historic Preservation and Fine Arts—with the majority of groups comprised of students and faculty from more than one discipline.
Restoring Buildings, Rebuilding Communities engaged residents of the Mill Creek and Belmont neighborhoods in West Philadelphia to demonstrate how simple repair techniques, showcased at Lombard Central Presbyterian Church, could be applied by residents to restore the beauty and function of neighborhood, historic row houses.
Student Participants: Sang Bae (MSHP ’16); Josh Bevan (MSHP ’16); Charlette Caldwell (MSHP ’16); Andrew Cushing (MSHP ’16); Alice Gilmore (MSHP ’16); Julia Griffith (MSHP ’16, co-chair); AJ Habib (MUSA/HSPV ’15); Andrea Haley (MSHP ’16); Nate Hammitt (ARCH/MSHP ’15); Angelina Jones (MLA/MSHP ’16); Amy Lambert (MSHP ’16, co-chair); Sonja Lengel (MSHP ’16); Grace Meloy (MSHP ’16); Jess Neubelt (MCP/MSHP ’17); Adela Park (MLA ’15); Jenn Robinson (MSHP ’15); Maya Thomas (MSHP ’16); Casey Weisdock (MSHP ’16)
Faculty Advisor: Aaron Wunsch
Community Partners: Lombard Central Presbyterian Church, West Philadelphia Tool Library, LimeWorks, Corner Bakery
WASTE NOT/Redux aims to develop functional installations to serve community organizations using discarded construction materials. The project seeks to aid diverse South Philadelphia communities that are experiencing rapid growth and transformation.
Community Partners: Southeast by Southeast, Growing Home Gardens, Revolution Recovery and Recycled Artists in Residency (RAIR), City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy
Proactive Practice examines cutting-edge social impact design firms to understand (1) how their business models allow them to shape their own opportunities to contribute to their communities, and (2) how their structure allows them to be financially sustainable while delivering on a social mission.
Student Participants: Nick McClintock (M.Arch/ MLA ’16), with Gilad Meron and Mia Scharphie
Faculty Advisor: Daniel Barber
Designing Healthier Eating Experiences is led by students from the Integrated Product Design (IPD) Program with the purpose of encouraging children to eat a healthier and more balanced diet, not only through specially-designed dining plates, but also actively engaging elementary and high-school students in the process of designing and promoting new products to promote healthy choices.
Improving the Viaduct: A Frankford Gateway Prototype included a one-day interactive event to improve and highlight the Lehigh-Frankford underpass in Kensington, coordinating with Somerset Neighbors for Better Living (SNBL), and the New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC) to coincide with their annual Community Day.
Community Partners: Somerset Neighbors for Better Living (SNBL); New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC), City of Philadelphia's Lighting Department
About PennPraxis
The mission of PennPraxis is to extend design excellence and innovation beyond the classroom and into communities by creating opportunities for students, faculty and partners to collaborate. We pursue this mission by helping faculty take on practice opportunities that match their interests and provide real world opportunities to work with clients on design challenges; by providing fee-for-service consulting in design and research assignments; and by convening events and communicating the practical work of the School.
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