Designed by Harold Van Buren Magonigle, the Liberty Memorial, or more commonly referred to as the World War I Memorial, towers over southern Kansas City. It is fascinating in its design, as I am not readily able to identify any architectural archetypes upon which it is based.
A sleek, slender shaft of limestone juts up out of a simple plaza of the same stone, and then is topped with a large oblong globe.
Described by one source as being Egyptian Revival, I fail to see any strong connections to that style other than in the fluting on the shaft of the memorial.
The surrounding structures, which once held museums dedicated to the war, are in fact in a severe Egyptian Revival style.
Shrouded sphinxes flank either side of the approach to the main monument.
I was greatly impressed how the Henry Bloch addition sensitively complements the older Nelson-Atkins building.
I feel like these images speak for themselves; it is one of the more amazing spaces I have visited in a long time.
I was completely stunned at the incredible new performing arts center just south of downtown Kansas City. I was in particularly impressed at the ingenious and innovative design of the building, which dominates the skyline. Daring architecture has always been present in American cities, and it's nice to see they chose not to look to the past but towards the future.
I never realized before, but there are four sculptures at the top of the monument, each facing a different direction. They're all identical, more or less, despite my thinking that they weren't from the ground.
The Kansas City Power and Light Building was the tallest skysscraper in Missouri for decades, only surpassed by a modernist skyscraper in St. Louis.
Its Art-Deco detailing once features a dramatic light show when the building first opened.
Hoit, Price and Barnes designed this remarkable building, as well as other buildings around the city.
Again, how did St. Louis not get around to building so many tall buildings during this era, even though it was a larger city?
