Related Projects
Area
5,000 participants
20,000 guests
In the Media
Creative Events, Links Publishing
Commencement, Fabric Architecture
Penn does Pomp and Circumstance by Design, Chronicle of Higher Education
Award for Design Excellence
AIA Philadelphia
The set is an integrated surface of graphic textiles, with video screens that transmit the content and drama of the ceremony to everyone in the stands.
As a designed object, the stage presents a focus for the excitement of the day. The canopy acts as a mediator of scale between the stadium and the distinguished speakers who stand at the podium.
The architecture is temporary, erected for a single event, but is designed as a kit of parts to be reused for many years.
Commencement Ceremony
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania decided to redesign their annual Commencement Weekend ceremony, re-energizing a program that had become uninspired and had lost an aesthetic focus. The traditional site is Franklin Field, an historic stadium within the campus, with space for the unfolding events. The project is to reconsider the presentation of the ceremony, to be both engaging and practical for the 20,000 guests, 5,000 students, faculty, and honorees.
The Commencement Procession winds through the campus into Franklin Field and through the new stage portal, from the University into the world, where the achievement of the graduates and honored guests are publicly recognized and celebrated. The new stage subdivides the vast space of Franklin Field, concentrating the guests in the closed end to create an arena environment. The orientation is west, to the familiar towers of the University in the background, a reminder of this time of transition for the graduates.