Kansas City Design Center

Eight graduate students enrolled in the Kansas State University College of Architecture, Planning and Design will participate during the 2009-2010 academic year in the Kansas City Design Center (KCDC).

The KCDC is an interdisciplinary, inter-university urban design/research studio whose mission is to be the agent of public discourse in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Located at 1018 Baltimore in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, the studio is comprised of eight graduate students majoring in architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture and product design, or regional and community planning from the K-State College of Architecture, Planning and Design and eight architecture students from the School of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Kansas.

The studio addresses complex physical planning and design issues relevant to change in metropolitan Kansas City. The KCDC is to facilitate research, initiate informed discussion and provide topical public programs to build greater understanding of the potential of architecture, planning and urban design to improve the quality of life and development in the Kansas City metropolitan region.

Participating students were selected by their academic departments and college-wide committees. Selection was honorific and competitive, with student participation regarded as a reward for outstanding academic achievement. Each student participant received a special scholarship to offset the expense of residing in Kansas City during the school year.

Funding for the KCDC is provided by the William T. Kemper Foundation and the Hall Family Foundation of Kansas City, as well as DST Realty, 360 Architecture, Populous, HNTB Architecture, Commerce Banks, the University of Kansas and Kansas State University.

The KCDC space may also be used for exhibits, lectures, charrettes and other activities of interest to Kansas City area professionals as well as faculty and students from both participating universities.

Vladimir Krstic, professor of architecture at Kansas State University, is the 2009-2010 studio instructor.

K-State student participants in the 2009-2010 studio are:  Erica Besler and Shannon Williams, regional and community planning; Rachel Duncan, Paul Folger and Amy Kinderknecht, architecture; Allison Gould and Janelle Heideman, interior architecture and product design; and Steven Holt, landscape architecture.

For more information, contact:
Wendy Ornelas, 785.532.5950