Obama Presidential Center Renderings, OPC Building Chicago design, American architecture images

Obama Presidential Center Jackson Park

OPC Chicago Building Renders – design by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects Partners (TWBTA) / IDEA

Location: Jackson Park, Southside, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Design: Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners (TWBTA) in collaboration with Chicago-based Interactive Design Architects (IDEA)

Obama Foundation Announces New Renderings for Obama Presidential Center

Jan 29, 2018

Obama Presidential Center at Jackson Park

The Obama Foundation recently released new renderings of the Obama Presidential Center planned for a site in Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side.

The drawings show subtle but significant revisions to the design by TWBTA with IDEA. The scheme remains a trio of stone-clad buildings—museum, forum, and library—connected below grade and arranged around a plaza.

Obama Presidential Center Building Jackson Park
images courtesy of the Obama Foundation

The low-slung library and forum, largely concealed by regraded topography and lushly planted roof terraces, look mostly unchanged. The design of the plaza has become a bit more complex, with additional courtyards to provide more greenery and shaded outdoor spaces.

Obama Presidential Center Chicago plan layout

The museum’s canted tower has evolved more substantially, partly in response to criticism from local residents and other stakeholders that it was too big.

Obama Presidential Center Jackson Park

The architects’ solution has been to decrease its footprint but make it taller. The height has increased from 178 to 235 feet, making for leaner and more elegant proportions.

Film on YouTube

The architects have enlarged and added windows in the stone-clad building to increase its transparency. A 100-foot-tall window now appears on the north elevation. The southeast and southwest corners now have filigree screens of stone letters, through which light should emanate at night to creat a dramatic glow.

Thankfully the above-ground parking facility on the Midway (adjacent public park) has been scrapped in favor of a discreet on-site underground garage.

The $300 million contract to the Lakeside Alliance, a collective of five local construction companies.

Obama Presidential Center Jackson Park

On July 27, 2016 reports emerged that President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have selected Jackson Park on the city’s south side as the future home for the Obama Presidential Center, instead of Washington Park.

Jackson Park Japanese Garden Chicago:
Jackson Park Japanese Garden Chicago
photo courtesy wikimedia commons, by Steven Kevil – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31328781

Jackson Park is a 500-acre (2 km²) park on Chicago’s South Side, located at 6401 South Stony Island Avenue in the Woodlawn community area. It borders Lake Michigan and several South Side neighborhoods.

The parkland was first developed as the host site of the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.

The Obama Foundation announced in Jun 30, 2016 that they had selected Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners to lead the design team for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, and Interactive Design Architects to be their partner.

TWBTA stood out in their commitment to explore the best ways of creating an innovative center for action that inspires. Notable works include the Logan Center for the Arts, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL; The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA; LeFrak Center at Lakeside, Brooklyn, NY; Center for the Advancement of Public Action, Bennington College, Bennington, VT.

IDEA brings local knowledge and a track record for delivering excellence to large, complex civic projects. Notable works include the Eckhardt Center FF&E, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL; A.J. Celebrezze Federal Building Facade Recladding, General Services Administration, Cleveland, OH; Anti-Cruelty Society Facade Recladding, Chicago, IL.

Previusly on e-architect:

Obama Presidential Center Building in Chicago

Excerpts below:

Feb 1, 2017

Landscape Architect Selected for Obama Presidential Center Building, Chicago

Location: Southside, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Obama Foundation Announces Landscape Architect for Obama Presidential Center

The Obama Foundation have announced the landscape architecture team for the Obama Presidential Center (OPC). Working with the OPC’s previously announced architects, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and InterActive Design Architects, a team comprised of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates (MVVA), Site Design Group, and Living Habitats will serve as the project’s landscape architects.

July 29, 2016
Jackson Park Site for The Obama Presidential Library

The Obama Foundation confirms Jackson Park in Chicago as the official site of the Obama Presidential Center Building in Chicago project:

Film on YouTube

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama look out at the city skyline and Lake Michigan after arriving at the Burnham Park landing zone in Chicago, Illinois, June 15, 2012:
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama look out at the city skyline
Official White House photo : Pete Souza

June 15, 2012 – “We had just arrived at the helicopter landing zone in Chicago and instead of walking right to the motorcade, the President and First Lady walked past their vehicle to the edge of Lake Michigan to view the skyline of their home town.”

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners

Firm size: 30
Headquarters: New York, NY
Website: TWBTA

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

Interactive Design Architects

Firm size: 10
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
Website: IDEA

Source: Obama Presidential Center Building in Chicago Architects

Film on YouTube

23 + 22 Dec 2015

Obama Presidential Center Building in Chicago Architects Shortlist

Architecture Firms Shortlisted To Design The Obama Presidential Library

– David Adjaye (London)
– Diller Scofidio + Renfro (New York City)
– John Ronan Architects (Chicago)
– Renzo Piano Building Workshop (Genoa)
– SHoP Architects (New York City)
– Snøhetta (Oslo)
– Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (New York City)

Obama Presidential Center Building design in Hawaii by Snøhetta and WCIT:
Obama Presidential Center Building in Hawaii by Snøhetta and WCIT

Adjaye/Associates

Diller Scofidio + Renfro

John Ronan Architects

Renzo Piano of Renzo Piano Building Workshop

SHoP Architects

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

Snøhetta

Obama Presidential Center Building design in Hawaii by Snøhetta and WCIT:
Obama Presidential Center Building in Hawaii by Snøhetta
images courtesy of Snøhetta

Aug 26, 2015
The Barack Obama Foundation Releases Request for Qualifications for Architects

The Barack Obama Foundation released a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) soliciting submissions from firms interested in providing architectural design services for the Obama Presidential Center (OPC).

Obama Presidential Center in Chicago information from Obama Foundation

Website : Obama Presidential Center in Chicago Request for Qualifications for Architects

President Obama Presidential Library in Illinois – 15 Jul 2016 : Joel’s Column Vol. IV, Number 1

Location: Southside, Chicago, Illinois, USA

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