The aesthetic goal was to impact every student at the college and elevate the profile of KCAI’s academic programs by designing an environmentally friendly, visually stunning facility, while maintaining design continuity with the neighboring community. The dark, rich manganese ironspot brick exterior takes its queues from the tones, textures, shapes and materials used in adjacent sites. The integration of curved bricks into the design combines a feeling of spontaneous creativity with precision and strength. Consistent with the art historians who are enshrined within the building’s main portal, the high sheen iron ore additives in the brick work to mirror and interpret the beauty around them, appearing to change with the angle of the sun and the color of the sky.
