The American Institute of Architects Guide to Kansas City Architecture & Public Art

In 1979 the Kansas City Chapter of the American Institute of Architects published its first guidebook to the architecture of Kansas City. In the two decades that have followed Kansas City has seen the addition of many outstanding buildings and the loss of several old ones. The Kansas City Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has joined together with the Design Center of Kansas City to publish this celebration of Kansas City architecture. The intent of this book is to give the reader a representative visual image of metropolitan Kansas City through its exceptional buildings, urban design, and contemporary environmental public art.

The reader will find—arranged in 12 geographic districts—examples of the work of some of the area’s finest architects and artists, as well as a number of entries by individuals of world renown. At the beginning of each geographic area is a guide map, along with an introduction to the overall significance of the area. As it happens, the geographic divisions tend to parallel closely the patterns of growth and development in Kansas City and recognize the individual styles of Kansas City, Missouri; Independence, Missouri; Kansas City, Kansas; and Johnson County, Kansas.

The content of the new guidebook was based on the 1979 edition, with the recognition that the years since then have produced an abundance of outstanding examples of architecture, most of which speak to a maturing of the art and practice of the architectural profession in Kansas City. Additionally, Kansas City’s One-Percent-for-Art Program, given new impetus in the 1980s, have provided a body of public art that enhances many of those examples of recent architecture.