Architecture

The Future of Work

Create What’s Next

Watch now to see how Jefferson is preparing students to create what’s next in Architecture, Design and Fashion & Textiles.

Architecture & Imagination

Creating a smarter city

What will Philadelphia be like in 2050? Students from Thomas Jefferson University's College of Architecture & the Built Environment find out.

As part of their High-Rise Buildings class, students imagined Philadelphia thirty-one years in the future and designed a 3D model of their vision. Expanding on existing infrastructure and using extensive data and analysis, the students conceived of a city plan that would make Philadelphia smarter and more adaptive.

Picture of Philadelphia at night with lit skyscrapers.

The project focused on five sections of the city: Vine Street, Schuylkill Yards, Delaware River, Center City and Jefferson’s campus. The students created comprehensive infrastructure that increased walking and biking. They also considered the impact of smart cars on transportation, which will lead to less traffic. Their designs took socio-economic and ecological pressures into account, such as climate change and air pollution, as well as the health of the population.

Image of multiple architectural drawings of buildings.

As architecture evolves with the times, adaptive environments like this one are sure to become reality. Envisioning a smarter Philadelphia together is just a start.

Image of multiple architectural drawings of buildings. Image of ground floor of large building with people walking around. Image of futuristic auditorium with people.

Landscape Architecture

From unused lots to vibrant parks

What happens when you deliver a DIY park inside a truck? A transdisciplinary team of Jefferson faculty and students is about to find out.

Park in a Truck is the brainchild of Kim Douglas, the director of the university’s Landscape Architecture program, and Drew Harris, a professor in the College of Population Health. Together with their students, they’ve developed a toolkit that will enable under-resourced communities to convert open lots into dynamic green spaces. The kit will be delivered in a truck, of course, and will include everything needed to build a park from scratch.

Model showing a green space in a small lot next to some buildings.

The first Park in a Truck will be built this fall, at the corner of 38th and Melon streets. And that’s just the start. There are approximately 40,000 more open and available lots in Philadelphia, ready to be transformed.

Group of people looking at a 3D model of a park. Woman and man looking over a wall of photos. Group of people sitting in a new green space.

INTERIOR DESIGN/INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE

  • Image of interior with multiple floors and open space.

    Interior architecture graduate students Diya Taib and Pooja Manishankar were tasked with designing a new Nexus Design Center.

  • Image of lounge space with tables, chairs and large windows.

    As part of their project, they envisioned bright, airy spaces.

  • Image of interior with multiple floors and open space.

    So they created atriums and galleries that would be expansive and inviting.

  • Image of room with a window, a bar in from of the window and a woman sitting on a stool lookoing out the window.

    Innovative lines and open meeting spaces would provide ideal locations for collaboration.

  • Image of hallway with spot-lit chairs in center.

    With energy efficient designs to optimize daylight and heat, depending on the season.

  • Image of man in business suit sitting in a chair at the base of a stairwell looking at his phone.

    Creating a work environment that promotes the health and well-being of its occupants.

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Image of Thomas Jefferson University J logo with buildings inside the J.

Architecture