This semester, our studio has been focusing on the Dunbar neighborhood and how design can play a role in building community resilience. A big part of that work centers around the idea of a Resilience Hub, a place that supports the neighborhood through access to resources, education, and connection. While each group has taken a different approach, several projects are exploring how food systems can plug into and strengthen that hub.

Some of the ideas include community gardens, chicken coops, green walls, farmers markets, and rainwater harvesting systems that encourage sustainable ways to grow and share food. These projects aim to do more than improve food access, they’re about creating spaces that bring people together, promote learning, and celebrate the history and culture of Dunbar. Once known as the “Garden of Eden”, Dunbar was once a self-sustaining community with deep agricultural roots. By thoughtfully integrating these sustainable, community-focused elements, the projects honor the neighborhood’s heritage while nurturing a renewed sense of pride and connection. Through this process, our studio is learning how intentional design can cultivate resilience, both environmentally and socially, within the community.

Outside of studio, the Industrial Design students attended the Healthcare Design Conference + Expo this week. Which was a great opportunity to network with professionals, explore innovative ideas in healthcare design, and gain new inspiration to bring back to the studio.

This past week, the Kansas City Design Center collaborated with Community Capital Fund to create an interactive map for the annual Community Development Workshop. The map showcased neighborhood investment projects across Kansas City, helping participants explore local efforts to strengthen community resilience. KCDC students also helped steward the event, welcoming guests, guiding them through the map, and sparking conversations about how design can support equitable development throughout the city.

 This Monday, KCDC students presented their mid-semester reviews at Dimensional Innovations (DI), engaging a dynamic audience that included Dunbar community leaders, representatives from the Kansas City nonprofit More2, and fellow design professionals. The event offered students the opportunity to showcase their evolving concepts and receive insightful, constructive feedback from a range of perspectives. The energy in the room was palpable, and we’re eager to see how these ideas continue to develop. Below is a sneak peek at a few projects featuring compelling visuals and innovative design approaches.

During studio, students engaged in a post-presentation debrief to reflect on their core concept statements, analyze feedback, and gain clarity on their final design direction. The session emphasized the integration of architecture and industrial design, encouraging cross-disciplinary dialogue. By sharing insights and perspectives, students were able to enrich each other's projects with diverse approaches and collaborative thinking.

We concluded the week on a high note by hosting a public event with professional networking and a design lecture. We saw a lot of people from all over from Kansas State educators to industry professionals. Guest speaker Andreas Bell, Managing Director of Team Studios in Chicago, shared insights from his experience as a creative director.

Due to the nature of the Resilience Hub project, our architecture students are challenged with incorporating real-world construction methods into their buildings while in the design phase. Dirk McClure visited us at KCDC to present an overview of what is possible with modern precast building facades. In order to better inform them in their design process, our studio was privileged with being able to tour the local Enterprise Precast Concrete plant, getting first-hand experience of how this construction method is used to balance budget and design. Our studio got insight into multiple parts of the production process of precast concrete, gaining a better understanding of their options when using this method of construction in their current projects and beyond. Precast construction allows for cheaper solutions when designing a reusable framework for resilience hubs, and it can help to reduce the amount of coordination required during the construction processes. Students are challenged to take advantage of these benefits while incorporating them into conceptual designs.

As we look forward to the next few weeks, our studio is preparing to begin production for the work that will be presented during our mid-semester reviews at Dimensional Innovations. As the industrial design students move closer to the mid-reviews, they are working on how to correctly tell the story of their concepts, making sure to concisely but clearly convey their problems and solutions. On the architecture side, students are finalizing their initial building designs in preparation for the initial design review, creating a two-sentence program statement outlining the goals of their proposed buildings.