New Year, New Look

Today, we’re launching a new logo, and we’re excited to share the story of how it came to fruition. For the past 17 years, KCDC has celebrated student input and design, so working with students on a rebranding effort felt perfectly in line with our program’s values.

The journey to the new logo has been inspiring. We collaborated with three talented graphic design students from Kansas State University: Abigail Scantlin, Elle Bergerhofer, and Megan Murphy, under the guidance of their professor, Dan Warner. These students brought fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and a thoughtful understanding of the KCDC mission to the design process.

The new logo celebrates our iconic KCDC green, which has become synonymous with our identity. This fresh design adds versatility and adaptability, allowing us to better connect with a diverse audience across platforms.

More than just a visual update, this logo carries a meaningful message of unity. Our work fosters collaboration across state lines, disciplines, and communities. The new design reflects this role, incorporating subtle elements that symbolize connection.

We extend heartfelt gratitude to Dan Warner and his students for their hard work. Their efforts gave us a logo that honors our history and propels us into an exciting new chapter.

As we kick off this rebranding, we invite you to celebrate this milestone. Let’s continue designing a brighter, more connected Kansas City. Stay tuned for updates on our website refresh, events, and ways to get involved in the KCDC community.

Here’s to the next decade of innovation and collaboration! See below for bios of Abigail, Elle, and Megan, and their thoughts on the process.

Abigail Scantlin: Hi! I’m Abigail Scantlin, a junior at Kansas State University majoring in Graphic Design with a minor in Marketing. I enjoy all things art, movies, and traveling. I’ve developed my design skills through classwork and nonprofit projects, and I’ve loved applying them to my work with the Kansas City Design Center. This project was an incredible learning experience, especially when it came to collaborating with and designing for a client. I especially enjoyed animating the logo, which allowed me to further develop my animation skills and contribute creatively!

Elle Bergerhofer: Hi my name is Elle! I am currently a Senior at Kansas State University pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Graphic Design. I am deeply passionate about communicating ideas and telling compelling stories through design. As a Kansas City native, this project has been so impactful to me in the way it has given me the opportunity to gain real world experience in a community I see and love!

Megan Murphy: I'm Megan Murphy, a K-State student pursuing a bachelor of fine arts with a concentration in graphic design. My passion, however, is in illustration and exploring new mediums. Outside of class, I enjoy many creative hobbies like costume design, digital sculpting, and working with resin!

Welcome KCDC's new Director!

We are delighted to announce that Lauren Harness has been selected as the new Director of the Kansas City Design Center.

"Kansas City and the KCDC are essential to APDesign at K-State.” said Michael McClure, Dean of The College of Architecture, Planning & Design at Kansas State University, “We are thrilled to have Lauren Harness as our new director, we welcome her back to K-State, and look forward to the energy and leadership she will bring in improving Kansas City through applied planning and design research."

Lauren brings a wealth of experience and a diverse portfolio of work to her new role at KCDC. She holds a Master of Architecture degree from Kansas State University (2015) with a minor in Regional and Community Planning and is a Registered Architect and LEED Green Associate.

Lauren's impressive career includes roles at prominent firms such as William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc.; MASS Design Group; Ennead Architects; and El Dorado Inc. Her notable projects range from educational facilities and cultural centers to affordable housing and public parks, showcasing her commitment to socially impactful and environmentally sustainable design.

Lauren is actively engaged in the professional community through various roles, including the Dean's Advisory Council at K-State APDesign, and continued mentoring and volunteer work through her local AIA chapters in both Boston and New York City.

Stay tuned for exciting programming events this fall, including “Coffee with the Kansas City Design Center.” This event will offer a unique opportunity to meet our new Director, Lauren Harness, and engage in discussions about the KCDC mission and our future endeavors.

Event Recap: Third Friday Art Walk in KCK

The Third Friday Art Walk in KCK on June 21st was an exciting event! It provided a wonderful opportunity to engage with community members and showcase the designs that students created during the past semester. The Kansas City Design Center students exhibited their revitalization concepts for Bethany Park, which featured a master plan as well as several individual housing typologies.

The pop-up exhibit also included a panelized structure that students designed and built earlier in the semester. This structure was assembled on-site at the Art Walk to demonstrate innovative prefab construction techniques aimed at creating better-performing and more affordable homes.

Open House Recap and Transition to KCDC Summer Publication

The academic year concluded with our Open House event on May 9th. We were thrilled to welcome the community to see the progress made on our KCK Housing Revitalization Vision Study and individual housing typologies projects, incorporating feedback from our final design review. For the first time, we displayed the prefabrication panels we worked on during the semester. These panels connect to the master plan and housing typologies by demonstrating building techniques that could be part of a larger, year-long project focused on revitalizing the neighborhoods around Bethany Park on Central Avenue with affordable, multigenerational, and mixed-use housing. The Open House brought closure to the semester, providing an opportunity for students, faculty, and community members to celebrate our accomplishments, share insights, and discuss future plans for the Bethany Park project, including the master plan, housing typologies projects, and prefabrication panels.

As summer approaches, we will be developing the publication for the KCK Housing Revitalization 2023 and Spring 2024 design project and prefabrication exhibit.

Final Review

As the academic year comes to a close, so too does our current design project. This past Monday, we welcomed a panel of critics to partake in our final design review. Among the critics were Gunner Hand and Alyssa Marcy from the UGWC Planning Department; Greg Sheldon, Sarah Murphy, and Michael Luczak from BNIM; and our former Director, Vladimir Krstic. Our review took a deep dive into the different pieces of our Bethany Park Masterplan, which includes a range of housing typologies from detached, single-family houses to a mid-rise, mixed-use building, as well as programmatic Nodes between the residential pieces. As a studio, we are using the feedback we received in our review to prepare our Bethany Park Masterplan for presentation in the Heintzelman Design Competition in Manhattan, Kansas, which celebrates the design work produced by 5th-Year Architecture students at Kansas State University.

On Thursday, May 9, we will be welcoming the community to come and see our work at our Open House event. We will have our masterplan and each of our housing typologies on display as a prototype for further housing developments throughout Kansas City, Kansas.