Greetings from KCDC Studio! In the fall of 2023, the KCDC studio began working with the unified government of Wyandotte/KCK Planning’s Urban Design Department on a year-long project to study the Central Avenue Corridor in Kansas City, Kansas. The studio focused on designing a masterplan for a new mixed-use development in Bethany Park, where a demolished hospital complex left a large, open space in the Riverview Neighborhood. The fall studio studied the rich history, cultural context, and current conditions around the park and neighborhoods to pose a thesis on the future of housing on the site, touching on issues of density, amenities, connection to existing neighborhoods, and the role of development in the overall health and economic vitality of the neighborhood.
The Unified Goverment of Wyandotte County and Kansas City has invited KCDC to exhibit our visioning study for the West Bottoms in Three Parts project. The exhibition will be up through December in the lobby of City Hall, located at 701 N 7th st, KCK. Check it out and let us know what you think!
As previously announced, I have decided to retire from active teaching and leading KCDC. I am extremely grateful for the productive teaching career I've had at Kansas State University and in particular the opportunity to build and lead Kansas City Design Center for the last fifteen years. Beyond its academic foundation, KCDC has become an instance and an agency for seeking and envisioning a better city for all and I am extremely proud of what we have been able to achieve. However, none of that would have been possible without great community and civic partners who invested trust and support in us, funding benefactors, support of academic and professional communities, inspiring and committed KCDC staff, and above all hard work, talent, and perseverance of the KCDC students I have had the privilege to work with. I remain profoundly and humbly thankful to you all. KCDC stands in good hands, and I am very enthused about the next generation of KCDC faculty and their ability to bring the program to the succeeding level of excellence and impact.
Vladimir Krstic Academic Programs Director Emeritus