Hastings & Chivetta

Hastings & Chivetta
Name	Hastings & Chivetta
Type	Architectural firm
Founded	1956
Headquarters	Kansas City, Missouri
Founders	H. Russell Hastings Jr., J. Russell Chivetta
Notable projects	Kansas City International Airport, Powell Hall, Saint Louis University Chaifetz Arena

Hastings & Chivetta is an American architectural firm founded in 1956 with headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. The firm has designed educational, civic, healthcare, and performing arts facilities across the United States and internationally, working with universities, municipal authorities, dioceses, and cultural institutions. Its portfolio includes campus planning, rehearsal and performance venues, science centers, and residence halls commissioned by organizations such as University of Missouri–Kansas City, Saint Louis University, University of Kansas, and diocesan authorities in the Roman Catholic Church.

History

The firm was established in the mid-20th century amid postwar expansion and modernist practice, contemporaneous with firms like Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Gyo Obata’s office, and Eero Saarinen’s legacy. Early commissions included regional civic works and campus buildings aligned with trends pursued by Frank Lloyd Wright-influenced practitioners and followers of the International Style. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Hastings & Chivetta undertook projects for institutions such as Rockhurst University and Truman State University, positioning the practice alongside peers including HOK and Perkins and Will. In subsequent decades the firm expanded into performing arts with designs that engaged institutions like Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and into healthcare projects paralleling work by HDR, Inc. and CannonDesign.

Notable Works

Hastings & Chivetta’s body of work features major commissions for higher-education campuses and civic arts venues. Signature projects include campus buildings at University of Missouri–Kansas City and the design of performance and rehearsal spaces used by organizations such as Kansas City Symphony and Starlight Theatre. Other commissions encompass residence halls and academic facilities at institutions like University of Kansas and Missouri State University, and ecclesiastical architecture for dioceses comparable to projects by Edward Larrabee Barnes or Rafael Moneo. Their work is exhibited alongside buildings documented in surveys by the American Institute of Architects and in inventories held by state historic preservation offices including the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Architectural Style and Philosophy

Hastings & Chivetta’s design approach synthesizes programmatic clarity with contextual response, echoing principles visible in the work of Louis Kahn and the pragmatic modernism of Paul Rudolph. Their projects emphasize material legibility, daylighting strategies, and circulation patterns informed by precedents from Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, while also engaging regional vocabularies found in contemporary Midwestern architecture. For performing arts facilities the firm integrates acoustical collaboration with consultants associated with firms that have worked for Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Campus plans produced by the firm reflect master-planning techniques used by Olmsted Brothers-influenced designers and by planners of Princeton University and University of Chicago.

Organizational Structure and Leadership

The firm is run by a leadership team of partners and principals, a structure comparable to practices such as Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and HKS Architects. Its leadership has included licensed architects trained at institutions like Missouri University of Science and Technology and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the office employs project managers, designers, and technical staff who collaborate with consultants from AECOM, Arup, and independent acousticians. Corporate governance includes a board of directors and project leadership roles similar to those at Perkins Eastman and Gensler, enabling multidisciplinary coordination across architecture, interior design, and planning disciplines.

Awards and Recognition

Projects by the firm have earned regional and national acknowledgment from professional bodies such as the American Institute of Architects and state chapters including the AIA Kansas City Chapter and AIA Missouri. Individual projects have been cited in design awards similar to programs run by the AIA Committee on the Environment and recognized in publications that profile notable American architecture alongside firms like Glass Studio and Michael Graves’ commissions. Historic and preservation assessments of some buildings have led to listings and mentions within inventories managed by the National Park Service and state preservation offices.

Projects by Sector

- Higher education: campus buildings and residence halls for University of Missouri–Kansas City, Saint Louis University, University of Kansas, Rockhurst University, and Truman State University. - Performing arts and civic: rehearsal, performance, and civic spaces for organizations aligned with Kansas City Symphony, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and municipal arts councils. - Healthcare and science: clinical and laboratory facilities comparable to commissions undertaken by firms such as CannonDesign and HDR, Inc.. - Religious and institutional: ecclesiastical and diocesan projects related to Roman Catholic Church parishes and diocesan offices. - Master planning: campus and institutional master plans informed by precedents at Princeton University and University of Chicago.

Community Engagement and Education

The firm maintains relationships with academic institutions through design-build collaborations, lectures, and juries at schools such as University of Kansas School of Architecture and Kansas State University. Hastings & Chivetta has participated in community design initiatives akin to programs run by AIA chapter outreach and partners with workforce development organizations and local cultural institutions, contributing pro bono design services and participating in public charrettes similar to engagements by Habitat for Humanity affiliates and municipal planning departments.

Category:Architecture firms based in Missouri