Centers
From preserving history to shaping sustainable energy policy, the Weitzman School’s centers drive groundbreaking research, public engagement, and real-world impact. Your support helps these hubs of innovation expand their reach, deepen student learning, and lead meaningful change in communities locally and around the world.
Advancing Impact Through Centers of Excellence
The Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania holds work by over 400 designers, spanning from the 17th century to today. Global in scope, the collection reflects the influence of the School and Philadelphia on design worldwide. Through collection tours, exhibitions, and public programs, the Archives brings architectural, landscape, and planning ideas to life—enhancing student learning and fostering broader cultural dialogue. Visitors are encouraged to engage with original drawings, models, artifacts, and stories to enrich their research and education.
The Center for the Preservation of Civil Rights Sites (CPCRS) advances the understanding and sustainable conservation of heritage places commemorating American civil rights histories and Black heritage. The CPCRS undertakes research, teaching, and fieldwork to explore issues and solutions, raise awareness, and build capacity at heritage sites with significant civil rights histories.
The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy creates the conditions for policy innovation that support a just and efficient transition to sustainable energy. Its research agenda is focused on exploring how energy policy can effectively address climate change while ensuring that clean energy benefits are shared equitably across all communities. The Center creates impactful research, convenes today’s experts, and cultivates tomorrow’s leaders—through research grants, collaborative exchanges, public lectures, and world-class instruction.
The McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology is a transdisciplinary platform for collaborative research that supports the future of life on earth. Housed in the Department of Landscape Architecture, the Center was launched in 2019 as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the publication of Ian L. McHarg’s transformative book Design with Nature. The McHarg Center funds and broadcasts original scholarly research; convenes students, faculty, and practitioners; and awards the annual McHarg Fellowship for an emergent scholar.
PennPraxis is a platform for the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design to develop and support design action on real-world projects. The center solves a wide range of problems in urban and rural communities by connecting students, recent alumni, and faculty with community leaders and by supporting local initiatives with Praxis’s team of experienced project managers, planners, and designers.
