This week in studio was a full one! We kicked things off with a visit from MARC (Mid-America Regional Council) to talk about climate resilience. Instead of just giving us a presentation, they actually sat in on ours and gave us feedback. They asked questions, added context, and helped us better understand the topics we were presenting on. MARC engaged in conversation with us that pushed us to think deeper about how climate challenges connect back to design.

On Monday in seminar, we took a field trip to the historic Aladdin Hotel to meet with Zach Molzer of Molzer Development. The building itself was such a cool backdrop for the discussion; it has gone through many changes and developments over the years but the history was preserved behind drop ceilings, plastered walls, and dirty carpets. Hearing about how it’s been reimagined and adapted over time was a great reminder that architecture isn’t always about starting from scratch. Sometimes the best design choice is to breathe new life into what’s already there.

Graphic by Josh Gaddy

Back in studio, we’ve all been deep into our projects. The Industrial Design students are developing their concept proposals, products that can help serve and aid the community of Dunbar and beyond. Meanwhile, the Architecture group has been bouncing around concept ideas, building out massing models, and starting to figure out program distribution. At the heart of both groups’ work is Dunbar; its history, its people, and its resilience. Each idea we test and tweak comes back to how design can support the community and help it grow in a sustainable, self-sufficient way.

Building on our visit to the Dunbar neighborhood last week, our task was to accumulate research for a topic relating back to community resilience and compile our findings into a booklet. The goal was to show off how climate action planning, environmental health, critical infrastructure, and social resilience can strengthen and develop community resilience on a national, local, and neighborhood level.

This week, we met at Central Christian Church to speak with Jay Jones from More2 about resilience hubs. More2 is an Environmental Action Agency, which helps to produce resilience hubs and action centers here in Kansas City, such as Central Christian Church. During our visit we talked about environmental inequities and opportunities within KCMO.

Graphic by Josh Gaddy

Our groups came together and presented our research from the first two weeks of studio. Alongside our research paper, we were tasked with making four personas for the users of our projects. These personas represent the neighborhood residents, allowing us to zero in on user needs and pain points to create design decisions to fill the needs of the community! The key challenges we identified include addressing extreme weather and drought, strengthening connections between the community and social programs, improving access to emergency services, and building the infrastructure needed for the community to thrive independently. These focus areas will serve as the foundation for exploring opportunities to enhance resilience and strengthen the Dunbar neighborhood.

We’re thrilled to kick off the Fall 2025 semester here at the Kansas City Design Center! Our studio is gearing up for an exciting and impactful few months of design work, with 7 architecture students and 11 industrial design students coming together to shape meaningful projects.  

This semester, both our architecture and industrial design studios are diving into a crucial new endeavor: Community Resilience. On the architecture side, we’ll be working on the design of Community Resilience Hubs (CRHs), which are unique buildings that combine a community center with a shelter for climate-related emergencies. These CRHs are meant to be the first of many, creating a network of hubs across the urban core of Kansas City. During climate-related disasters, these hubs will be neighborhood-based epicenters that provide power, water, shelter, connectivity, health services, and food. During times of extreme heat or cold, they’ll serve as climate relief centers offering cooling/warming stations, water, and food. And when the weather is “normal,” they’ll be lively spaces for events, community services, and resources that support social, emotional, and physical well-being. 

 Meanwhile, our industrial design studio will focus on Community Resilience Infrastructure- a system of tools, objects, and spatial interventions to support neighborhood-level preparedness and recovery. Together, our two studios are fostering an interdisciplinary environment where architecture and industrial design students collaborate toward a shared project goal. 

We’ll be working closely with the Heart of the City Neighborhood Association, Care on the Boulevard, and other community partners in Kansas City. We’ll be designing deployable products, material systems, public furnishings, and information devices that not only meet everyday needs, but also help communities during disaster response. 

During our first week, we visited our project site in the Dunbar community and attended a Q&A session with residents Kathryn Persley and Damon Patterson. We were joined by another K-State Studio that is also studying Dunbar led by Gabrielle Coleman. This visit gave us the chance to learn directly from community members about the history of the neighborhood and the residents' lived experiences. We ended the day exploring nearby landmarks and places surrounding the site! 

We hope you’ll follow along as we explore the possibilities for enhancing community resilience in Kansas City! We’ll be sharing weekly updates here on the blog, and you can also keep up with us on Instagram @kcdesigncenter. We’re so excited to see where this semester takes us and to work toward making a meaningful impact on our community!