The tour of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s Bloch Building addition offers attendees a firsthand look at Steven Holl’s celebrated design. Completed in 2007, the glass “lenses” emerge from the landscape, creating a dialogue between architecture, site, and the historic Beaux-Arts museum. Participants will explore how diffused natural light shapes the visitor experience, with translucent walls fostering a sense of openness and fluidity. The tour emphasizes Holl’s innovative use of materials, spatial sequencing, and integration with the surrounding sculpture park. By moving through the subterranean galleries and luminous glass volumes, attendees will gain insight into how the Bloch Building redefined museum design blending art, architecture, and landscape into a cohesive, internationally acclaimed cultural landmark.
10:00AM - 12:00PM
Tour: Steven Holl’s Bloch Hall Addition to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art directed by BNIM
ARCH+ TECHNOLOGY TRACK
This joint tour explores two icons of Kansas City’s built environment: the Historic Power and Light Building and the vibrant KC Live!. Attendees will begin with the Art Deco Power and Light Building, completed in 1931, whose striking limestone façade and iconic lantern crown once symbolized the city’s emergence as a modern metropolis. The tour highlights its architectural details, adaptive reuse, and enduring presence on the skyline. From there, participants will experience KC Live!, the energetic centerpiece of the Power & Light District. This open-air entertainment venue demonstrates contemporary urban placemaking, blending retail, dining, and event space into a dynamic civic hub. Together, these sites showcase Kansas City’s architectural evolution from historic grandeur to modern revitalization, and how we foster community through design.
10:00AM - 12:00PM
Tour A: KC Live Concert Venue by HOK
Tour B: Power + Light Building Renovation by NSPJ Architects
ARCH+ COMMUNITY TRACK
These hard-hat tours highlight two transformative projects in the heart of downtown Kansas City: the renovation of Barney Allis Plaza and the adaptive reuse of the historic Aladdin Hotel. Attendees will explore how the reimagined Barney Allis Plaza creates a flexible, pedestrian-focused public space, balancing civic programming with green infrastructure and improved connectivity to the urban core. The tour then moves to the AladdinKC, a restored 1920s Art Deco hotel that exemplifies adaptive reuse, preserving historic character while meeting contemporary hospitality needs. Together, these projects illustrate how thoughtful design and reinvestment can revitalize existing structures and public spaces, fostering both cultural preservation and urban vitality while contributing to Kansas City’s evolving architectural and civic landscape.
10:00AM - 12:00PM
Tour A: The AladdinKC by Molzer Dev.
Tour B: Barney Allis Plaza Renovations by HOK
ARCH+ INDUSTRY TRACK
This last tour showcases the intersection of cultural heritage and contemporary design through the renovated Zhou B. Art Center and the historic 18th & Vine Jazz District. Attendees will explore the Zhou B. Art Center, a former school transformed into a dynamic hub for visual arts, exhibitions, and community engagement, demonstrating adaptive reuse that supports Kansas City’s creatives. The tour then extends into the 18th & Vine Jazz District, internationally recognized as the cradle of Kansas City Jazz and home to landmark institutions like the American Jazz Museum and Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Together, these stops highlight how architecture, preservation, and adaptive reuse honor the city’s cultural legacy while fostering a renewed vibrancy in a historically significant district.
10:00AM - 12:00PM
Tour A: 18th + Vine District and Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
Tour B: Zhou B. Art Center by BNIM
ARCH+ CULTURE TRACK
In today’s world, leadership and activism in architecture are not optional, they are essential. This keynote will challenge us to rethink our role as architects, designers, and future professionals beyond the drafting table and construction site. Architecture shapes communities, influences culture, and responds to urgent issues like climate change, equity, and accessibility. With this impact comes responsibility: to advocate, to lead, and to act. Through stories of bold leadership and examples of grassroots activism, this keynote will inspire attendees to see activism not as an added burden but as the core of meaningful practice. By embracing responsibility, architects can amplify their influence and create positive, lasting change. Attendees will leave with renewed motivation to lead with vision and design with purpose.
1:30PM - 2:45PM
Keynote: “Getting Sh*t Done: Architects for All” by Ashley Z. Hand
Location: Kansas City Public Library - Plaza Branch
ARCH+ INDUSTRY KEYNOTE
With wide-ranging expertise among the panelists covering advocacy, policy, engineering, and development. This final Keynote (ARCH+ Culture) panel will be the culmination of the theme the conference will have been exploring in all of the tours, sessions and keynotes prior. Highlighting the tremendous amount of coordination and collaboration that has to happen to produce effectual change and development in urban settings, the panelists will discuss their work, what they have on the horizon, where Kansas City is heading, and how architects are a part of the process.
4:45PM - 6:30PM
Keynote: A moderated discussion among Blaine Proctor, Emma Castro-Krivanek, Stacey Lowe, and Jon Stephens
Location: Kansas City Public Library - Plaza Branch