Join us at the KCDC studio for a virtual screening of renowned structural engineer Guy Nordenson as he delivers a lecture on his work in climate adaptation and structural engineering. As a professor at Princeton University and founder of his own firm, Nordenson has been at the forefront of waterfront development research, including his post-Hurricane Sandy contributions to New York’s climate resilience efforts.

The College of Architecture, Planning & Design (APDesign) at Kansas State University is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Ekdahl Lecture Series. This milestone will be celebrated with a series of special lectures and a discussion panel from October 23 to October 24, 2024, featuring prominent speakers from the fields of landscape architecture, design, and structural engineering.

The Ekdahl Lecture Series, named in honor of the distinguished architect Oscar S. Ekdahl, continues to serve as a forum for students, professionals, and the public to explore innovative ideas that address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Ekdahl, a Kansas State University alumnus, graduated in 1933 with a Bachelor of Architecture. His dedication to excellence in architecture and design is embodied through this lecture series, which annually invites thought leaders from across the globe to share their expertise and vision.

Please RSVP here if you plan to join!

Save the date! Join us at the KCDC Fall Mixer on Thursday, October 10th for an exciting evening of networking, happy hour, and a chance to meet our new director, Lauren Harness! 🍸

Location: 1111 Main Street, #115 Kansas City, MO
Time: 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM (Opening remarks at 5:15 PM)

Whether you’re a design enthusiast, a community supporter, or just curious to learn more about KCDC, this is an event you won’t want to miss. See you there!

RSVP HERE!

We are excited to announce that we will be hosting a pop-up exhibition at the upcoming Third Friday Artwalk in downtown Kansas City, Kansas.

This event will feature the innovative work of students from the Kansas City Design Center, focusing on revitalization concepts for Bethany Park. Explore the visionary 2023-24 studio designs and discover how prefab construction techniques can lead to better-performing, more affordable homes. 

Event Details:
Date: June 21st
Time: 5-9pm
Location: Downtown Kansas City, Kansas (Anne Ave & 6th street)
We look forward to seeing you there!

Join us on Thursday, May 9th from 4:00- 7:00 pm at The Kansas City Design Center (1111 Main St. KCMO 64105 – First floor, South Stair Lobby) for our Open House and celebration for the KCK Central Avenue Housing Revitalization Vision Study!

The KCDC Urban Design Studio will display their design work completed in the past year including proposals for a master plan of the Bethany Park site, individual housing units and typologies for the site, and a presentation of the prefabrication project completed this semester.

Light food and refreshments will be provided. We hope you can stop by! 

If you plan to attend, please RSVP to kmcconnell@kcdesigncenter.org

Curious about a proposed Transit-Oriented Development for the southwest corner of 10th and Main Streets? Learn more and ask questions at a public meeting set for 4:30-6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24 at ​​the Kansas City Design Center.

The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority (KCATA), RideKC Development Corporation (RKCDC), and Live&RideKC Partners have teamed up to explore feasibility and develop conceptual designs for a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) on the southwest corner of 10th Street & Main Street. A TOD is a walkable, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use community centered around high-quality transportation.

Click here to add a calendar reminder! https://evt.mx/jENr0HxT 

The Kansas City Design Center is right next to the Library streetcar stop and there is limited, metered street parking as well as access to nearby parking garages (range from $2-$10).

Join us on Thursday, May 19th from 9am-12pm for a symposium with a moderated panel of experts co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Kansas City Design Center (KCDC), and the City of Kansas City, Missouri (KCMO) that will explore novel methods of increasing the supply of affordable housing. As part of HUD’s strategic plan and its mission to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality homes for all, this event will memorialize best practices and barriers to the common goal of expanding affordable housing supply. You can register for the event at this link.

The panel will be made up of the following individuals and will be moderated by Brian Handshy with HUD:

Stacey Johnson-Cosby, Reece Nichols Realtors
Todd Lieberman, Brinshore Development
Emmet Pierson Jr, Community Builders of Kansas City
Michael Gibson, AIA, Professor, K-State University Department of Architecture
Jason Swords, Sunflower Development Group
Stephen Westbrooks, IFF
Jonathan Arnold, Arnold Development Group
Don Maxwell, Maxwell Law
Joe Colistra, AIA. Professor, University of Kansas School of Architecture and Design
Dominique Davison, AIA, Draw Architecture
Rebecca McQuillen, Marlborough Community Land Trust

We hope to see you there! Contact Brian Handshy for any additional information at 202.437.7073 or brian.handshy@hud.gov

Disclaimer: All materials from this symposium will be public information. Panel experts are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements, opinions, and interpretations contained in these materials. Such statements, opinions, and interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of the views of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Join us on Thursday, May 12th from 5-7:30pm at the Kansas City Design Center [1018 Baltimore Ave, KCMO] for our FINAL Open House and celebration for the Kessler Park Water Reservoir Vision Study!
The KCDC Urban Design Studio will display the comprehensive proposal for the three design schemes they created throughout the last year, from analysis to final design details. We hope you can stop by to take a look at the student’s proposals for the transformation of the reservoir into a community-centered public space. To view more details about the project, visit our project page.

We hope you join us for a celebratory evening— food and refreshments will be provided. We are right next to the Library streetcar stop and there is limited, metered street parking as well as access to nearby parking garages (range from $2-$10).

Reach out to Mariah Randell (mrandell@kcdesigncenter.org) with any questions about the event or the project, we hope to see you there!

¡Únase a nosotros el jueves, 12 de mayo de 5-7:30pm en el Centro de Diseño de Kansas City [1018 Baltimore Ave, KCMO] para nuestra ÚLTIMA casa abierta y la celebración del Estudio Visionario para el Embalse de Agua del Parque Kessler!

El Estudio de Diseño Urbano KCDC demostrará la propuesta integral de los tres esquemas de diseño creados durante este último año, desde el análisis hasta los detalles finales de diseño. Esperamos que pueda pasar y echarle un vistazo a las propuestas de los estudiantes para la transformación del embalse a un espacio público para la comunidad. Para más detalles sobre el proyecto, favor de visitar nuestra página del proyecto.

Esperamos que se unan a nosotros para una noche de celebración- Proveeremos comida y refrigerios. Estamos localizados justo al lado de la parada del tranvía en la Biblioteca y hay estacionamiento limitado en la calle con parquímetro, en adición a garajes de pago cercanos (entre $2-$10). 

Favor de comunicarse con Mariah Randell (mrandell@kcdesigncenter.org) con cualquier pregunta sobre el evento o el proyecto, ¡Esperamos verlos ahí!

Join us for ‘Beyond Zero Carbon’, a lecture by Jerry Tate, RIBA; Director of Tate + Co. and K-State Regnier Chair 2021-22 on Thursday, April 28th. Light refreshments will be provided at 5:30pm and the lecture will begin at 6pm. The lecture will take place at the Populous ‘Grandstand’— the building entrance is located on 48th St. as well as the entrance to the attached parking garage. The lecture is organized by K-State College of Architecture, Planning, and Design and Kansas City Design Center, the venue was generously provided by Populous.

Masks will be required for unvaccinated individuals.

Speaker Bio:
Jerry founded Tate+Co in 2007 and maintains a central role at the practice. He is driven by his desire to generate creative, pragmatic and unique solutions for each project. Jerry is influential across all projects, ensuring design quality is paramount.
Jerry was educated at Nottingham University and the Bartlett, where he received the Antoine Predock Design Award, subsequently completing a masters degree at Harvard University, where he received the Kevin V. Kieran prize. Prior to establishing Tate+Co, he worked at Grimshaw Architects where he led a number of significant projects including ‘The Core’ education facilities at the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK.
Jerry is frequently invited to lecture, notably at Education Estates, the Carpenters Fellowship and Ecobuild, as well as contribute to architecture publications, including the Architects Journal, Building Design, Sustain, and World Architecture News. He has taught at Harvard University and run a timber design and make course for the Dartmoor Arts organisation. Currently Jerry teaches at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL and is Regnier Visiting Professor for Kansas State University’s Architecture School. In his spare time Jerry is involved with a number of charities and is a trustee at the Grimshaw Foundation and a Governor at Cranleigh School.

The KCDC will be hosting its next public meeting for the Kessler Park Water Reservoir study on Tuesday, April 5th from 5:30-7:00pm at the NEKC Chamber of Commerce. Parking will be available on site.

The goal of this meeting is to garner feedback about design detail studies and programming development for the vision study. This will be the last public meeting before the final project presentation in May. The goal of the project is to propose a vision for a community-centered public space for the abandoned reservoir in Kessler Park and create a framework for it’s potential future implementation.  To view more details about the project, visit our project page.

If you can’t join in person, you can register to view the presentation portion of the meeting on Zoom or watch the livestream on Youtube. We will share a link for individuals that are joining virtually to provide feedback via a survey following the presentation.

Register to join on zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqfuCorjorGtHuqjzk6HOuTttcyecZpeHN

Watch the livestream on youtube:
https://youtu.be/i5r-9Ph_CKc

For those joining virtually or watching online, use the following survey to provide feedback: https://forms.gle/nEhZRGYf5ygqspVd6

We hope you’ll join us in person or online to provide feedback that could impact the proposal to transform the abandoned reservoir into a public space for the surrounding communities. Light refreshments will be provided at the NEKC Chamber of Commerce. Please reach out to KCDC Director of Operations & Outreach, Mariah Randell (mrandell@kcdesigncenter.org) with any questions you may have.

The KCDC will be hosting it’s first public meeting of the semester for the Kessler Park Water Reservoir study on Tuesday, February 22nd from 5:30-7:00pm at the NEKC Chamber of Commerce. (Masks will be required at this event!) Parking will be available on site.

The goal of this meeting is to garner feedback about preliminary design detail studies and programming development for the vision study. The goal of the project is to propose a vision for a community-centered public space for the abandoned reservoir in Kessler Park and create a framework for it’s potential future implementation.  To view more details about the project, visit our project page.

If you can’t join in person, you can register to view the presentation portion of the meeting on Zoom or watch the livestream on Youtube. We will share a link for individuals that are joining virtually to provide feedback via a survey following the presentation.

Register to join on zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtduyrrz0pGNZKJP8ahKK2cJgZaf6lLPvD

Watch the livestream on youtube:
https://youtu.be/e3oWhfEXXG4

For those attending or tuning in virtually, use this link to provide feedback: https://forms.gle/FFtzUr1TUY2QvuGo8

We hope you’ll join us in person or online to provide feedback that could impact the proposal to transform the abandoned reservoir into a public space for the surrounding communities. Please reach out to KCDC Director of Operations & Outreach, Mariah Randell (mrandell@kcdesigncenter.org) with any questions you may have.

The KCDC will be hosting its end of semester Open House and Public Presentation for the Kessler Park Water Reservoir on Thursday, December 16th from 5:30-8PM at the Kansas City Design Center. (Masks will be required at this event!)

The goal of the project is to support a community-centered design vision study for repurposing the abandoned open surface water reservoir in Kessler Park into a public space and create a framework for its implementation.  To view more details about the project, visit our project page.

We hope to see you at the Open House to celebrate the end of the first phase of the project and take a look at the student’s preliminary vision and design ideas for the reservoir.

The KCDC will require face masks at this event. Please reach out to KCDC Project Coordinator, Mariah Randell (mrandell@kcdesigncenter.org) with any questions you may have.

The Kansas City Design Center will hold its second public presentation for the Kessler Park Water Reservoir study on Thursday, November 4th from 5-7pm at PH Coffee. While the meeting will be held in-person, masks will be required! We will be live streaming the presentation portion of the meeting on youtube ( https://youtu.be/CUU0LDRSo90 ), you can provide feedback digitally following the livestream.  The goal of the project is to support a community-centered design vision for the re-purposing of the abandoned Kessler Park Reservoir into public space and create a framework for its implementation. 

We hope you’ll join us at PH Coffee to share your ideas on how to transform the reservoir!

You can read more about the project here.

The Kansas City Design Center will hold its first public presentation for the Kessler Park Water Reservoir study on Wednesday, September 22nd from 5:30-7 PM. The meeting will be held on zoom, the registration link can be found below.  The goal of the project is to support a community-centered design vision for the re-purposing of the abandoned Kessler Park Reservoir into public space and create a framework for its implementation. During the meeting the students will introduce their research and analysis of the reservoir and its context and begin investigating the needs of the community through discussion with those on the call.  

While the presentation will be given in english, Spanish translation will be made available through a written script and a student will be available to answer any questions in Spanish.  

You can read more about the project here.

Registration info:
Sep 22, 2021 05:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtcuqtrD4qGtQxZNZyQA2zJtk4ESvZMToW

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

We hope to see you there! Reach out to KCDC Project Coordinator, Mariah Randell (mrandell@kcdesigncenter.org) with any questions.  

____________________

El Centro de Diseño de Kansas City tendrá su primera reunión pública para el estudio del embalse de agua del Parque Kessler el miércoles 22 de septiembre de 5:30-7PM. La reunión será por Zoom; para registración, visite la página que se encuentra debajo. El propósito del proyecto es apoyar un diseño enfocado en la comunidad que reutilize el embalse abadonado del Parque Kessler como espacio público, y crear un marco de referencia para su implementación. Durante la reunión, los estudiantes introducirán su investigación y análisis del embalse con su contexto, para poder investigar las necesidades de la comunidad a través de una discusión con todos los presentes en la llamada.

Aunque la presentacion se dará en inglés, traducción al español estará disponible a través de un guión escrito, en adición a una estudiante que estará disponible para aclarar y contestar preguntas en español.

Puede leer mas sobre el proyecto aquí.

Información sobre registración:
22 de Septiembre del 2021 05:30PM Tiempo Central (US y Canada)
Regístrese de antemano:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtcuqtrD4qGtQxZNZyQA2zJtk4ESvZMToW

Luego de registrarse, recibirá una confirmación a través de correo electronico que contiene información sobre cómo unirse a la reunión.

¡Esperamos verlos! Favor de comunicarse con la coordinadora de proyectos, Mariah Randell (mrandell@kcdesigncenter.org) con cualquier pregunta.

The KCDC will be hosting its final public presentation and virtual Open House for the KCK Riverfront Vision Study on Wednesday, May 12th from 4:00-5:30pm on zoom and Facebook live. 

The main purpose of the project is to create an urban design proposal for the creation of a pedestrian oriented public realm that connects Kansas City, Kansas to the Kansas River. The ultimate goal of the project is to offer a vision of how industrial urban spaces and infrastructure in the project area can be rethought to include mixed-use public spaces. Students will be presenting their comprehensive design proposals that have been created over the last academic year. To view more details about the project, visit our project page.
We hope to see you at the meeting to celebrate the culmination of the project and take a look at what students have created with the help of the KCK community and project stakeholders as a vision for expanded public realm and connection to the river! 
The registration link for the zoom meeting is below, please reach out to KCDC Project Coordinator, Mariah Randell (mrandell@kcdesigncenter.org) with any questions you may have.

ZOOM INFORMATION:
When: May 12, 2021 04:00 PM Central Time
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMucuGurj8rEtBWHrt1h3yKl7MEmq3Gojnj

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The KCDC invites you to the Public Meeting for the Kansas City, Kansas project on Thursday, February 25th from 12-1:30PM OR 4-5:30PM via ZOOM (registration links below).

There will be two different online sessions that you can choose from depending on your availability— the same information will be presented at each. For a general overview of the project, check out the project page. The main purpose of the project is to create an urban design proposal for the creation of an inhabitable, pedestrian oriented, public realm that connects Kansas City, Kansas to the West Bottoms area of Kansas City, Missouri across the Kansas River. Students will present the project and the preliminary focused design studies during the presentations.

We hope you are able to join us to see the visioning ideas for the Kansas City, Kansas project. For any questions, contact KCDC Project Coordinator Mariah Randell at mrandell@kcdesigncenter.org

Public Meeting Session 1
Thursday, February 25th 12:00-1:30PM
Registration Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0vdupqTMpHNCzqkiSmbTUOnoY0V_8y-u5

Public Meeting Session 2
Thursday, February 25th 4:00-5:30PM
Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYofuqqDsuGNWEU5wbcfrPCteqNgKqFUV4

The zoom meetings will also be streamed live on the KCDC Facebook page. If you would like to provide feedback or participate in the discussion, we ask that you register for one of the zoom meetings.

The KCDC invites you to the Open House and Public Presentation for the East Bottoms Project on Thursday, May 14th from 4:00PM to 6:00PM via ZOOM (link below). There is a brief, 10 minute video posted on the project page that provides a brief overview of project and each focused design area, we hope you’ll take a moment to review the video before the Zoom meeting. You can also review the sub-pages for each design group on the website to learn more specific information about their proposals. The first 30/45 minutes of the meeting will consist of a student presentation follow by about hour of discussion and questions.

We hope that are able to check out the final design iterations of the project and join our Open House Zoom meeting to provide any final feedback and, of course, celebrate the end of the project! If there is any feedback you would like to provide before the end of the project, you are more than welcome to use the response boxes provided on the project pages to leave any suggestions or comments. For any other questions, contact KCDC Executive Assistant, Mariah Randell, at mrandell@kcdesigncenter.org.

Kansas City Design Center is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: KCDC Open House Round 2 Time: May 14, 2020 06:00 PM

Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81843548477?pwd=dUYxNk9GKzRxNFBCQ0dTZzFJeUNMQT09
Meeting ID: 818 4354 8477
Password: 753869

The KCDC invites you to our second public engagement meeting for the East Bottoms Vision Study! The meeting will take place on Friday, April 17th from 12:00-1:30pm via ZOOM. We have expanded our East Bottoms Project page to have tabs for each focus area that the studio is creating design proposals for. On these focus area pages, you will find information and images about the studio’s ideas and plans. At the top of each page you will find zoom invitations that you can join to talk with students about their designs. It will be a very open format—you may dial or video in at any time, and leave at your own leisure— there will be a separate meeting invitation for each group, so please visit each page and join any meeting(s) you’d like! If you aren’t comfortable joining a meeting, we hope you’ll leave any suggestions, advice, or critique in the response boxes at the bottom of each focus area’s page.

Riverfront Park zoom meeting ID: 955 4576 9285
Electric Park zoom meeting ID: 980 1591 2531
Industrial District zoom meeting ID: 971 4033 5261
Working Landscape zoom meeting ID: 958 8579 8009

If you have any questions, please email the KCDC Executive Assistant, Mariah, at mrandell@kcdesigncenter.org.

The Kansas City Design Center would like to invite you to our first public meeting for the East Bottoms Visioning Study project on Tuesday, March 3rd at J.Rieger & Co. from 4:30pm-6:30pm. The KCDC has been focusing on the repurposing of infrastructural space and creating a public right-of-way connection between the East and West Bottoms and we would love your feedback and suggestions on the work we've done so far. For more information on the project, visit our project page here. 

As you may know, Guinotte Avenue is closed for construction; below you will find directions to get to J.Rieger & Co while avoiding the detour. We hope to see you Tuesday!

Directions:
Take interstate 70 and exit at Prospect Avenue
Head north on Prospect
Turn right (East) on Independence Ave
Turn left (North) onto Chestnut Trafficway
Turn Left onto Guinotte ramp, then right onto Guinotte
Turn left onto Montgall and the parking left is immediately on your left before the train tracks.

Join us at the Kansas City Design Center on Wednesday, December 18th for KCDC’s Open House for the East Bottoms Visioning Study anytime between 5:30-8:00 PM. Students will present their findings from the past semester focused on the East Bottoms area of Kansas City, MO. Admittance is free and street parking is limited but available. Light refreshments will be served. We hope to see you there!

Join us at the Kansas City Design Center on Thursday, May 16th for KCDC’s Open House/Final Showcase for Prospect Avenue Nodal Study. Admittance is free and street parking is available.

Join us at the Kansas City Design Center on Tuesday, April 2nd for a public lecture with Jennifer Newsom and Tom Carruthers, the art and architecture duo of Dream the Combine. There will be a public reception at 5:30 pm with the program following at 6:00 pm. Admittance is free and street parking is available.

About Dream The Combine:
Jennifer Newsom and Tom Carruthers are architects, artists, and co-founders of Dream The Combine, based in Minneapolis, MN.
Dream The Combine’s work consists of large-scale, public art installations exploring metaphor, perceptual uncertainties, and the boundary between real and illusory space. They are intrigued by forgotten places and unpredictable audiences, and consistently seek out spaces on the margins in their work. They are winners of the 2018 Young Architects Program at MoMA PS1 for their installation, Hide & Seek.
Dream The Combine has exhibited at MoMA and MoMA PS1 in New York, NY; the National Museum of the 21st Century Arts (MAXXI) in Rome, Italy; East Haddam, CT; Vancouver, BC; Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN. Their work has been published widely, including the New York Times, Metropolis Magazine, Architect Magazine, Architectural Record, Dezeen, The Architects Newspaper, and the Huffington Post.

In addition to Dream the Combine, Jennifer is an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Architecture and Tom is co-owner of Jacobsson Carruthers, a metal fabrication studio in Minneapolis. They are both graduates of the Yale School of Architecture.

Join us at the Kansas City Public Library on Thursday, March 21st for a public lecture with Matthjis Bouw as he discusses the need for increased attention to urban resilience in design. A reception will be held starting at 6:00 pm with the lecture following at 6:30pm. Admittance is free and parking is available in the Plaza Branch’s free parking garage.

About Matthijs Bouw
Matthijs Bouw is a Dutch architect and urbanist and founder of One Architecture (est. 1995), an award-winning Amsterdam and New York-based design and planning firm. He directs the Urban Resilience Certificate Program for PennDesign at the University of Pennsylvania.

Bouw’s work at UPenn theorizes and positions design as an integrator and innovator among scales, disciplines, actors and issues in urban resilience and water management  projects.Additionally, he researches how to achieve and increase ‘resilience value’ in the implementation of complex projects. He is a member of the ULI panel that writes the ’10 principles for building resilience’.

Bouw’s practice is known for its unique approach in which programmatic, financial, technical and organizational issues are addressed, communicated and resolved through design. Bouw has been a pioneer in the use of design as a tool for collaboration, for instance through the development of ‘Design Studios’ as an instrument to support the Netherlands’ Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment with its long term planning, with such notable projects as the Deltametropolis Studio and Randstad 2040.

The office works on flagship resilience projects in New York, Boston and San Francisco. A co-leader of the BIG Team that won the Rebuild by Design competition for the flood protection of Manhattan, ONE is currently part of the multi-disciplinary teams executing the first phase of the East Side Coastal Resiliency project for Lower Manhattan, as well as planning the Lower Manhattan Coastal Protection project. In Panama City, Bouw is the urban designer in the ‘Water Dialogues’ team. In the Philippines, he is the urban planner for the Asian Development Bank on New Clark City, and works on nature-based disaster reduction in Tacloban. In the Netherlands, ONE is part of the ‘Hackable City’ team for Buiksloterham, a large scale brownfield redevelopment in Amsterdam-Noord based on the principles of the circular economy.

Join us at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art on Tuesday, March 5th for a public lecture with Fuensanta Nieto.

About Fuensanta Nieto
Fuensanta Nieto is a founding partner of Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos and a professor at the Universidad Europea de Madrid. Fuensanta Nieto lectures on architecture and participates in juries and symposia at various institutions around the world. From 1986 to 1991 she was co-director of the architectural journal ARQUITECTURA, published by the Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid. Her firm was founded in 1985 with Enrique Sobejano, and together their work has been awarded numerous prizes including the 2007 National Prize for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, the 2010 Nike Prize from the Deutscher Architekten, as well as the 2010 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos currently has projects in Germany, Spain, Austria, Estonia, Morocco, China, United Kingdom and France.

This talk is presented in partnership with the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art and Kansas State University where Fuensanta Nieto serves as the Victor L. Regnier Distinguished Visiting Chair in architecture. The Regnier professorship was established in 2003 to bring the finest architects from around the world to benefit the students of Kansas State and the public in the Kansas City region.

This is a free event but tickets are required, you can reserve them here. This program is presented when the museum is closed, please enter through the Bloch Lobby. Doors open at 5:30pm.

Join us Wednesday, December 12th as we share our Prospect Avenue Nodal Study Project!

Join us for a public lecture with Brent Ryan. A social hour will be held starting at 5:30pm, with the lecture following at 6:00 pm; admittance is free and street parking is available.

About the Lecture:
Brent D. Ryan’s The Largest Art is a new manifesto for urban design, providing a theoretical foundation for this under-theorized discipline. Ryan demonstrates that urban design is the largest of the building arts, one that is distinct from other arts like architecture, landscape, and land art. In The Largest Art, Ryan distinguishes urban design by its pluralism, which has five dimensions: plural scale, ranging from an alleyway to a region; plural time, because it is deeply enmeshed in both history and the present; plural property, with many owners; plural agents, with many makers; and plural form, with a distributed quality that allows it to coexist with diverse elements of the city. looks at well-known urban design projects through the lens of pluralism, and revisits the thought of three plural urbanists working between 1960 and 1980. Ryan tells three design stories for the future, imaginary scenarios of plural urbanism in locations around the world, and concludes with three signal considerations that all urban designers must acknowledge: eternal change, inevitable incompletion, and flexible fidelity. The city is a ceaselessly active, perpetually changing entity: the urban design of the future must be an art whose aesthetic qualities welcome the city’s pluralism instead of resisting it.

About Brent Ryan:
Brent D. Ryan is Head of the City Design and Development Group and Associate Professor of Urban Design and Public Policy in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning. His research focuses on the aesthetics and policies of contemporary urban design, particularly with respect to current and pressing issues like deindustrialization and climate change. Professor Ryan’s first book Design After Decline: How America rebuilds shrinking cities, was selected by Planetizen as one of its ten best urban planning books of 2012, and his second book, a treatise on urban design as a plural art, will be published by MIT Press in 2017.

Professor Ryan’s research has been published in the Journal of Urban Design, Journal of Planning History, Urban Design International, Urban Morphology, and the Journal of the American Planning Association, which awarded his article “Reading Through A Plan” its best article of 2011. Professor Ryan has also written numerous chapters for books including The City After Abandonment; Urban Landscape; The Oxford Handbook of Urban Planning; Rethinking Global Urbanism; and Urban Megaprojects: A Worldwide View.

Professor Ryan has three current research projects in China, all funded by the Sam Tak Lee Laboratory, examining coastal landmaking, the threat to urban villages, and a case study in transfer of development rights. He has also consulted for the World Bank on planning projects for emerging economies in Eastern Europe, and he will initiate a five-year study of sustainability in Siberian cities in 2017, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Prior to joining MIT, Professor Ryan taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he was also Co-Director of the City Design Center. Professor Ryan holds a B.S. in biology from Yale University (1991), a M. Arch. from Columbia University (1994), and a Ph.D. in urban design and planning from MIT (2002).

Megan Crigger, City of Kansas City, Missouri Director of Creative Services, moderates a panel discussion with artists Miranda Clark, Carmen Moreno, and James Woodfill to discuss their experiences as embedded artists on a design team and issues related to artist agency, conflict, problem-solving, blind spots, and authenticity. Q&A immediately follows the presentation. 

Space is limited and registration is required. Tickets are available via Eventbrite ($5 which includes lunch). Free parking is available.

About Miranda Clark:
Miranda Clark is a sculptor currently residing in Kansas City, Missouri.  She received her B.F.A from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2014 and went on to complete a two-year residency with the Charlotte Street Foundation Studio Program. Miranda's work explores the physicality of personal memories through sculpture, drawing, and photography. 

About Carmen Moreno:
Carmen Moreno received her BFA in 2010 from the Kansas City Art Institute in Interdisciplinary Art and Creative Writing with a Certification in Community Arts and Service Learning. She currently works as an independent artist in Kansas City and has exhibited works and ideas in numerous places all over the world. Carmen's pieces are mainly generated by her interest in science, art, philosophy, color theory,...basically everything. She maintains a studio practice of experimentation and open-mindedness. In applying the sensibilities of science to art, Carmen attempts to create a visual language that transforms her emotional-intuitive experiences into innovative installations and performances.

About James Woodfill:
James Woodfill is a 1980 graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute and has lived and worked in Kansas City since. As an interdisciplinary artist, his work is focused on direct experience through the composition of objects, occurrences and site. His artworks regularly blur boundaries in their execution, often merging with functional design. His installations bridge the fields of sculpture, painting and public art, and his work in the public realm has extended into education and curatorial projects, writings and numerous urban planning projects and studies.

About Megan Crigger:
Appointed in January 2015, Megan Crigger (Kansas City, MO) serves as the Director of Creative Services for the City of Kansas City, MO, Office of Culture and Creative Services, which facilitates conversations for policy, partnerships and programs to directly support arts, culture, and creative sectors, the creative economy and neighborhood vitality. Prior to this position, Ms. Crigger was the Cultural Arts Division Manager (2010-2014), Art in Public Places Director (2003-2010) and Art in Public Places Project Manager (2000-2003) for the City of Austin, Texas, Economic Development Department. Her professional board leadership has included the United States Urban Arts Federation (current), Consensus Board of Directors (current), Texans for the Arts Executive Board of Directors, and Executive Committee for the Any Given Child initiative from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Ms. Crigger holds a Bachelor of Art in Psychology, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History, and a Master of Arts in Arts Education from the University of Texas at Austin. 

This presentation is part of Honoring History + Place, a public engagement series designed to engage the general public, arts and business communities, and civic agencies about creative placemaking in Kansas City. Honoring History + Place is an initiative of the West Bottoms Reborn project that's supported by the National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant, with special event funding support by the Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund (NTDF) program. Project partners include the Kansas City Design Center; Kansas City, Missouri Office of Culture & Creative Services; Historic West Bottoms Association; Kansas City, Missouri Planning Department; KC Water; Unified Government of Wyandotte County, Kansas; Artists Miranda Clark, Carmen Moreno, and James Woodfill.

For more information, contact info@kcdesigncenter.org.

Award-winning Spanish architect and current Victor L. Regnier Distinguished Visiting Professor at Kansas State University, Fran Silvestre, will talk about his studio’s creative process. According to architecture critic and journalist David Cohn, “Silvestre’s designs are not simply solutions to given design problems, though he tends to present them as such. They absorb and distill the myriad issues of program, site and context, structure, building technologies and so on, subsuming them into the play of space and form that could be understood as the true subject of his architecture.” Fran Silvestre will reveal the most important values of his architecture and the methods his studio uses to achieve such innovative projects.

This is a free event but tickets are required: http://cart.nelson-atkins.org/single/SelectSeating.aspx?p=5522

This presentation documents grassroots efforts to reuse and enjoy iconic but economically obsolete industrial places in the American Rustbelt and in other U.S. Cities. Exploring a range of deindustrialized sites including former automobile factories in Detroit, a steel plant in metropolitan Pittsburgh, the Silo City campus of grain elevators in Buffalo, and former port sites in New York City, it assesses emerging forms of preservation, placemaking, and urban development practices, which operate outside traditional adaptive re-use markets and without substantial public funding. Building upon small scale, itinerant, and often guerrilla actions, these (mostly) do-it-yourself practices exploit historic sites in their “as is” condition, making the most of marginality and local cultural capital. Pursued out of a sense of passion and the desire to be a part of the physical reconstruction of their respective cities, the diverse and sometimes unusual parties that undertake these projects are redefining historic preservation as an empowering civic activity. Accordingly, their incremental, sweat-equity driven projects provide an experience of industrial heritage that is more playful, immediate, and broadly participatory than those at better capitalized sites, even as they fall short of professional preservation standards (and thus eligibility for significant federal and state tax credit support).

About Daniel Campo
Daniel Campo is a NYC/Baltimore-based urbanist. He is Associate Professor and Program Director of City Planning in the School of Architecture and Planning at Morgan State University. Campo is the author of The Accidental Playground: Brooklyn Waterfront Narratives of the Undesigned and Unplanned (Fordham University Press, 2013) and has published articles on a range of subjects including urban design, public space studies, placemaking, public art, downtown revitalization, history of the built environment and historic preservation. He holds a Ph.D. in city planning from the University of Pennsylvania and was previously a planner for the New York City Department of City Planning.