Weitzman School Spring 2020 Lecture Series Features Pioneers in Design and the Arts

Philadelphia—The University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design Spring 2020 Lecture Series brings more than three dozen of the world’s leading architects, landscape architects, planners, artists, and preservationists to Philadelphia. The series opens on Wednesday, January 15, with a lecture by Masoud Akbarzadeh, assistant professor of architecture, about the work of the Polyhedral Structures Lab at the Weitzman School bridging architecture, structural engineering, computer science, mathematics, and material science.

The schedule includes an exploration of the future of solar energy, a two-day symposium on the conservation of architectural tile and terrazzo, and examination of the role of dissent in design through the life of the late Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky.

Among the scheduled speakers:
Lizbeth Cohen, Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies, Harvard University
Darby English, Carl Darling Buck Professor of Art History, University of Chicago
A. Eugene Kohn, Co-Founding Principal and Chairman, KPF  
Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley, The Keith L. and Katherine S. Sachs Visiting Professors of Fine Arts, Weitzman School
Michael Webb, Co-Founder, Archigram

Unless noted otherwise, lectures take place at Meyerson Hall, 210 South 34th Street, Philadelphia, and admission is free and open to the public. Information is subject to change; please visit www.design.upenn.edu/calendar or subscribe to the School’s weekly e-newsletter to confirm details.

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

Wednesday, January 15, 6:00pm
“Spatial Efficiency Now”
Masoud Akbarzadeh, Assistant Professor of Architecture, Weitzman School
Center for Architecture and Design, 1218 Arch Street
Presented by Architecture in conjunction with the ongoing exhibition at the Center

Wednesday, January 22, 6:30pm
“Forms of Engagement”
Eric Höweler, Associate Professor of Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design; Co-Founding Principal, Höweler and Yoon Architecture
Presented by Architecture

Thursday, January 23, 12:00pm
“Rethinking Facadism: Materiality and the Politicization of Historic Structures”
Kasey Diserens Morgan (MSHP’13), PhD Candidate in Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania
Presented by Historic Preservation

Thursday, January 23, 6:00pm
Shannon Mattern, Professor of Anthropology, New School for Social Research
Presented by Landscape Architecture and The McHarg Center 

Monday, January 27, 6:30pm
“The World by Design” 
A. Eugene Kohn (BA’53, MArch’57), Co-Founding Principal and Chairman, KPF
Presented by Architecture

Wednesday, January 29, 12:00pm"
“Historic Preservation: Challenges and Opportunities in Philadelphia Today”
Paul Steinke, Executive Director, The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia
Patrick Grossi, Director of Advocacy, The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia
Presented by Historic Preservation

Tuesday, February 4, 6:30pm
Lecture Series on the Synthetic
Denice Frohman 
Presented by Architecture and Fine Arts
Supported by the Provost’s Excellence through Diversity Fund 

Wednesday, February 5, 6:30pm
The EwingCole Lecture
“MUTE ICONS and other Dichotomies of the Real in Architecture” 
Georgina Huljich, Assistant Professor of Architecture, University of California, Los Angeles; Principal, P-A-T-T-E-R-N-S; Lecturer in Architecture, Weitzman School
Presented by Architecture

Thursday, February 6, 6:30pm
Michelle Lopez, Assistant Professor of Fine Arts, Weitzman School
Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street 
Presented by Fine Arts

Thursday, February 13, 12:00pm
“A Case for CO2 Removal from Air”
Jennifer Wilcox, James H. Manning Chaired Professor of Chemical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Kleinman Center

Thursday, February 13, 6:00pm
“Space Settlements” 
Fred Scharmen, Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Planning, Morgan State University
Presented by Landscape Architecture and The McHarg Center 

Tuesday, February 18, 6:00pm
“Rwandan Genocide Memorials”
Randall F. Mason, Associate Professor, Historic Preservation, Weitzman School
Presented by Historic Preservation

Wednesday, February 19, 6:30pm
“Shared Responsibility”
Michel Rojkind, Senior Vice President of Architecture, WeWork; Principal, Rojkind Arquitectos  
Presented by Architecture

Thursday, February 20, 6:30pm 
Steffani Jemison
Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street 
Presented by Fine Arts

Thursday, February 27, 12:00pm
“The Clean Energy Revolution Is (Finally) Here”
Daniel Kammen, Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor of Energy, University of California, Berkeley
Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Kleinman Center

Friday, February 28 – Saturday, February 29
“Surface Effects: Architectural Tile & Terrazzo and its Conservation”
Keynote Speaker: Susan Tunick, Artist and President, Friends of Terracotta
Presented by Historic Preservation
Advance registration required

Tuesday, March 3, 2:00pm
“Historic Cities and Climate Change”
Anthony Bigio, Adjunct Professor of Sustainable Urban Planning, The George Washington University
Presented by Historic Preservation

Wednesday, March 4, 6:00pm
“The Intersection of Cultural Heritage and Climate Change, Co-Benefits Towards Greater Ambition”
Julianne Polanco, California State Historic Preservation Officer
Presented by Historic Preservation

Tuesday, March 17, 12:00pm
“Taxing Local Energy Externalities”
Hannah Wiseman, Associate Dean for Environmental Programs, Florida State University College of Law
Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Kleinman Center

Wednesday, March 18, 6:30pm
“Right-to-Heal: Architecture and Transitional Justice”
Esra Akcan, Associate Professor and Director of Institute for European Studies, Cornell Architecture, Art, and Planning
Presented by Architecture

Wednesday, March 25, 6:30pm
The Warren W. Cunningham Lecture
“Non-Traditional Green Architecture”
Michael Webb, Co-Founder, Archigram
Presented by Architecture

Wednesday, April 1, 6:30pm 
“Memories of the Resistance: The Defiant Life of a Female Architect, 1938-1945”
Sophie Debiasi Hochhäusl, Assistant Professor, Weitzman School
Presented by Architecture

Thursday, April 2, 12:00pm
“Here Comes the Sun: The Future of Solar”
Anne Hoskins, Chief Policy Officer, Sunrun
Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Kleinman Center

Thursday, April 2, 6:30pm
Fia Backstrom 
Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street
Presented by Fine Arts

Thursday, April 9, 6:00pm
“Saving America's Cities: A New Look at Urban Renewal” 
Lizbeth Cohen, Howard Mumford Jones Professor of American Studies, Harvard University 
Presented by City and Regional Planning

Thursday, April 16, 12:00pm
“Interest Groups and the Clean Energy Battle”
Leah Stokes, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of California, Santa Barbara
Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, 220 South 34th Street
Presented by the Kleinman Center

Thursday, April 16, 6:30pm
Darby English, Carl Darling Buck Professor of Art History, University of Chicago 
Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street
Presented by Fine Arts

Friday, April 17, 12:00pm
“The Freedom Colony Repertoire: Promising Approaches to Bridging and Bonding Social Capital Between Urban and Rural Black Meccas”
Andrea Roberts, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning, College of Architecture, Texas A&M University
Presented by Historic Preservation

Wednesday, April 22, 6:00pm
“A Planet to Win”
Billy Fleming, Wilks Family Director, The McHarg Center
Mary Annaïse Heglar, Writer
Daniel Aldana Cohen, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania
Alyssa Battistoni, Environmental Fellow, Harvard University Center for the Environment
Thea Riofrancos, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Providence College
Kate Aronoff, Fellow, Type Media Center
Presented by Landscape Architecture and The McHarg Center

Thursday, April 23, 6:30pm
Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley, The Keith L. and Kathy Sachs Visiting Professors of Fine Arts, Weitzman School
Institute of Contemporary Art, 118 South 36th Street
Presented by Fine Arts

For the most up to date event information, visit the Weitzman online calendar of events.