Marion Weiss

Marion Weiss serves as the Graham Professor of Practice in Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania's Stuart Weitzman School of Design and co-founded the multidisciplinary firm WEISS/MANFREDI. Her work bridges architectural practice, academic research, and public engagement through innovative design solutions.

Her research explores the synthetic integration of infrastructural, social, and ecological systems within urban environments. Notable projects include the Seattle Art Museum: Olympic Sculpture Park (Time Magazine 'top ten architectural marvel'), Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center, and Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park. Current initiatives encompass the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and University of Toronto’s Schwartz Reisman Innovation Centre, demonstrating her commitment to redefining public spaces through landscape-architecture hybrids.

Her distinguished contributions have earned:

• Academy Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters
• Architectural League of New York’s Emerging Voices Award
• New York AIA Gold Medal
• Induction into the National Academy

WEISS/MANFREDI’s work has been exhibited globally at the Venice Biennale, Guggenheim Museum, and Museum of Modern Art. The firm’s research is synthesized in the book PUBLIC NATURES: Evolutionary Infrastructures (2015), which proposes transformative connections between landscape, infrastructure, and urban territories. Her studios at Penn cultivate next-generation designers through hands-on investigation of complex spatial challenges.