The Obama Foundation has recently given the first look at the design for the Obama Presidential Center. The new campus, designed by Todd Williams Billie Tsien Architects, is made up of three main buildings that surround a public plaza that extends into the landscape.
The three buildings will be a multi-story museum, a library, and a forum. The library and the forum will both be one story and their roofs will be covered with plantings to create new parkland. Pathways will lead to the roofs of these buildings and provide views of Lake Michigan, the new public plaza, and the lagoon.
The museum will stand on the northern end of the campus and is meant to serve as the Center’s beacon and mark a visitor’s arrival. Classrooms, labs, and outdoor spaces are all included in the design. Additionally, the campus will be open to the public and provides spaces for events, trainings, and other gatherings. The goal of the new campus is to provide a space for “doing and making, as well as looking and learning,” the Obama Foundation website says.
Image courtesy of the Obama Foundation.
Early renderings show each of the three buildings clad in a light-colored stone. Each building has large swaths of glass incorporated into the design, as well. The campus will act as a transition space between the city, landscape, lagoon, and lake, and allow visitors to flow through the plaza and architecture and into the park beyond.
The project will be, at minimum, LEED v4 Platinum but the architects and planners are looking into the possibility of surpassing those qualifications.
Related Stories
| Oct 15, 2014
First look: Blueprint revealed for proposed High Line project in Queens
Yet another High Line-esque project has been proposed, this time in Queens. A blueprint has been developed for a 3.5-mile stretch of abandoned railroad tracks, which would connect Rego Park to Ozone Park with a walkway and bike path.
| Oct 14, 2014
Proven 6-step approach to treating historic windows
This course provides step-by-step prescriptive advice to architects, engineers, and contractors on when it makes sense to repair or rehabilitate existing windows, and when they should advise their building owner clients to consider replacement.
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
| Oct 10, 2014
A new memorial by Zaha Hadid in Cambodia departs from the expected
The project sees a departure from Hadid’s well-known use of concrete, fiberglass, and resin. Instead, the primary material will be timber, curved and symmetrical like the Angkor Wat and other Cambodian landmarks.
| Oct 8, 2014
First look: Woods Bagot unveils plans for new Christchurch Convention Center
The locally-inspired building is meant to serve as a symbol of the city's recovery from the earthquake of 2011.
| Oct 6, 2014
Frank Gehry's $100 million Eisenhower Memorial gets preliminary approval
After a rejection earlier in the year, Frank Gehry has gotten some good news: his revised design for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial has received approval from the National Capital Planning Commission.
| Oct 2, 2014
Budget busters: Report details 24 of the world's most obscenely over-budget construction projects
Montreal's Olympic Stadium and the Sydney Opera House are among the landmark projects to bust their budgets, according to a new interactive graph by Podio.
| Oct 1, 2014
10 iconic modern buildings first to receive 'Keeping it Modern' conservation grants from the Getty Foundation
Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House and Jørn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House are among the buildings to receive grants.
| Sep 29, 2014
Snøhetta releases final plan for terraced central library in Calgary
The competition-winning New Central Library is now in the final design stages, after two years of community engagement on the part of design firms Snøhetta and DIALOG.
| Sep 25, 2014
Jean Nouvel unveils plans for National Art Museum of China
Of the design, Nouvel describes it as inspired by the simplicity of “a single brush stroke.”