Around the country oil and gas boomtowns are facing extraordinary development pressures and social change that are transforming formerly rural or agricultural-based settlement patterns. The studio used the Bakken Region of the Western North Dakota as a case study for how communities can plan for the economic cycles of boomtowns and create strong diverse economies once the boom is over. The 19 counties in Western North Dakota were the subject of a HUD-funded Sustainable Communities Planning Grant, which served as the basis for the studio understanding and further research i
As world population grows, and more people move to cities and suburbs, they place greater stress on the operating system of our whole planet. But urbanization and increasing densities also present our best opportunity for improving sustainability, by transforming urban development into desirable, lower-carbon, compact and walkable communities and business centers.
In collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Community Development Studies and Education Department, this plan sets forth a vision for a more equitable, diverse, and sustainable economic future for Atlantic City that gives special consideration to the needs of low and moderate-income families. This focus on low and moderate-income families is paramount, as Atlantic City’s future has become increasingly uncertain.
Working with Sao Paulo Urbanismo and the University of Sao Paulo, this second year studio set out to design an innovation district in the Mooca-Vila Carioca Urban Operations Consortium. The studio examined case studies of innovation districts around the world. It then combined these takeaways with an anaylsis of the social, economic and environmental aspects of Brazil, Sao Paulo and Mooca-Vila in order to create visions for the site. For each vision, five different "What Ifs" were developed in order to identify specific measures neeed to implement the innovation district.
I am delighted to share the latest issue of the Pressing Matters publication with you. We have gone through a transformational year in the Department of Architecture at PennDesign. I hope you will enjoy the innovative student work, the news sections, and curricular improvements reflected in this issue.
Prospectus is a biennial publication of the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. It presents an overview of the academic program, a sampling of student work, and current research. Each issue is centered on a critical theme challenging and shaping the historic preservation field.
Activating the Observer: Movement, Rhythm, and Mind in the Architecture of Early 20th Century Russia
This dissertation intends to expose the complex Russian knowledge formation of thinking the possible at the beginning of the 20th century that led to a life-world of obsessive experimentation and to a particular cultural moment when art and science were not sharply distinguished academic subjects.