COLLAGE OF PICTURES FROM THE FALL 2017 KANSAS CITY TRIP AND ACCOMPANYING NARRATIVE
Traveling north on Interstate 35, three hundred and seventy-six miles north and east of Oklahoma City, people can visit Kansas City, Missouri. This quaint city located along the Missouri River is a wonderful example of how city’s develop over time. Originally a port city, the oldest buildings are located on the north end of the downtown area in the River Market area along the southern banks of the Missouri River. The river split the original settlements into two cities and those are the two cities seen today. The north side of the Missouri River is Kansas City, Kansas and on the southern side is Kansas City, MO. Originally ports sat on the southern banks for trade in the city. On the remains and origins of some of these ports, sits a large bridge and walking trails. The bridge contains multiple signs and plaques with information about the original ports that used to sit in that exact area.
The buildings along the River Market area are older and mostly made of brick that was most likely very easy to come by and produce locally. These buildings much like the remaining original buildings of Oklahoma City, are very interesting and use bricks in creative ways such as corbeling and running the bricks in serval different patterns and positions such as row locks, soldier coursing, and many more. Traveling south in the city, the buildings gradually get more modern which points back to the history of how and where the city was originally built showing that the built environment can not only just show history through building materials and construction methods, but as an overall whole, the built environment can tell a history of how a city came to be just through the placement of certain things.
Every city is different in its own way, but each city wants to stand out from others and the most common way for cities to do that is through their architecture. The most notable and recognizable piece of architecture or art for that matter in Kansas City would the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. At a first look, this building may stand out as a sore thumb ignoring context, but when analyzed further, the Kauffman center fits wonderfully into the eclectic city because of its careful consideration of site, orientation, and function. Site lines play a huge role in this building. Certain parts and buildings within the city were carefully chosen to be revealed through certain views from the building.
Many of the firms in the Kansas City area tend to hire students from either Kansas or Kansas State. From an outsider this may seem exclusive or even snobby, but this actually is a great idea because they are hiring people who will most likely know the history of the city where their work will be built. Therefore, the history of the city will be preserved and taken into account with new design. However, there are some firms like DRAW Architecture who typically hire outsiders, which also is great because in a city with so many different styles of architecture like Kansas City, keeping an eclectic style and possibly learning and implementing new things from these outsiders could help change a city for the better.
