Collaborative Projects

Teams of graduate students in the Interior Architecture, Sustainable Design, and Construction Management programs worked directly with the leaders of the International House to undertake an ambitious plan to renovate and add to the iconic modernist structure to the organization, founded over 100 years ago.

The International House is an independent, non‐profit organization housing nearly 400 students, scholars and interns from over 65 countries, and is a premiere presenter of international arts and cultural programs.

Students analyzed IHP's needs and context, met with both residents and administration, and proposed highly creative refinements and additions to both IHP's physical environment, programming, and operations.

Architecture students worked alongside graphic design and law and society students to produce a 50^th anniversary exhibition inspecting the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the subsequent investigations.

The widely recognized exhibition, “Single Bullet: Arlen Specter & The Warren Commission Investigation of the JFK Assassination,” featured a full-scale model of the 1961 Lincoln limousine complete with various camera views of the shooter and victim, a model of Dealey Plaza that shows the trajectories of the three shots that Oswald fired from the Depository window, and several relevant artifacts.

Fifth-year architecture students collaborated with graduate occupational therapy students and Project H.O.M.E. to design and build improvements to Women of Change Safe Haven, which serves chronically homeless and seriously mentally ill women in Philadelphia.

The goal was to improve conditions for 25 chronically homeless women, creating installations for the sleeping dorm, community room and medical area of the facility. Students created transitional living booths, furniture, and a multi-use collapsible exam table in order to maximize space and comfort for residents, especially during times of increased occupancy such as code blue situations.

A team of architecture and interior design students won first place in the prestigious 2012-13 Steel Design Student Competition for their Building to Bridge entry “Stream_Line,” over more than 1,000 students form the U.S. and Canada.

Stream_Line is a design for a new pedestrian bridge connecting parts of north and south Philadelphia currently divided by a highway. The design includes multi-purpose, dual-level paths for fast crossing or leisurely strolling, a café, exhibition space and gift shop.

Architecture and landscape architecture students put their learning into practice during a semester-long collaboration to revitalize the commercial corridor in nearby Germantown.

After months of meetings and discussions with neighborhood organizations and residents, the students developed a variety of plans to help boost neighborhood unity, cooperation, education, quality of life, economic health and cultural identity. Their revitalization plans included ideas for new theatres, parks, jungle gyms, community squares, benches and walking trails.