{"id":1199,"date":"2026-06-03T02:56:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T02:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/?p=1199"},"modified":"2026-06-03T02:57:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T02:57:51","slug":"obamas-presidential-klingon-prison-in-chicagos-poorest-neighborhood-is-a-blight-on-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/obamas-presidential-klingon-prison-in-chicagos-poorest-neighborhood-is-a-blight-on-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"OBAMA&#8217;S PRESIDENTIAL &#8220;KLINGON PRISON&#8221; IN CHICAGO&#8217;S POOREST NEIGHBORHOOD IS A BLIGHT ON THE CITY AND COST $850 MILLION!!!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\" data-gu-name=\"headline\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1jf02nx\">\u2018Like a Klingon prison\u2019: inside Barack Obama\u2019s audacious, near-windowless, $850m presidential library<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\">\n<div class=\"dcr-cj4vxp\">\n<p>Towering over a low-income area of Chicago, and wrapped in a speech that\u2019s hard to decipher, this controversial monolith feels like a menacing sci-fi HQ. Is it a monument \u2013 or a mausoleum?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\" data-gu-name=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"dcr-bjqdol\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1v9sla6\">\n<div class=\"dcr-5oiine\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1kpcv08\">\n<div class=\"dcr-16bbvim\"><span class=\"dcr-15rw6c2\">Egyptians had their pyramids. The Anglo-Saxons had their barrows. And the Americans have their presidential libraries \u2013 the chief difference being that the leaders the US venerates are usually still alive at the opening.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"dcr-pzh79o\" data-gu-name=\"body\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Lacking a royal family or a state religion, the US presidency has swelled to fill the void, transforming over the decades into a national personality cult, complete with its own secular temples to these powerful men. The latest pharaonic edifice is about to open on Chicago\u2019s south side, where it looms on the skyline as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obama.org\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">towering totem to the 44th president, Barack Obama<\/a>. He might have seemed humble in office, but in his post-presidential, Netflix-producing afterlife, Obama has erected the largest, costliest and most audacious complex of them all. Behold the $850m Obamalisk \u2013 or, as it sometimes feels morbidly like, the Obamausoleum.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"dcr-19m4xhf\" data-spacefinder-role=\"supporting\" data-gu-name=\"pullquote\">\n<blockquote class=\"dcr-zzndwp\"><p>Obama was very, very hands on with the design. He wanted to make things more angular and cut<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Previous presidential libraries have taken many forms, reflecting the values of their creators. Franklin D Roosevelt began the tradition in 1940, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fdrlibrary.org\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">building a library in Dutch colonial style<\/a> alongside his grave in upstate New York, which he hoped would be swarmed with \u201can appalling number of sightseers\u201d. Since then, every president has followed suit in their quest for immortality, dreaming up ever larger museums and archives, conceived as hallowed places of pilgrimage. Lyndon B Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lbjlibrary.org\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">commissioned a brutalist hulk for Austin, Texas<\/a>, a fitting symbol, its architect Gordon Bunshaft remarked, for \u201can aggressive \u2026 big man\u201d. Ronald Reagan opted for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reaganlibrary.gov\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">sprawling California hacienda<\/a>, with a dedicated hangar for Air Force One, while Bill Clinton conjured a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.clintonlibrary.gov\/about-us\/about-building\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">cantilevered metallic box in Arkansas<\/a> \u2013 a literal interpretation of his promise to \u201cbuild a bridge to the 21st century\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">So, how to symbolise hope, justice, equality and all the other bygone values that Obama championed in his meteoric ascent to the White House? How to commemorate the first Black president in history, in whom so much transformational faith was vested, at a time when so many of his achievements are being relentlessly rolled back?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"8a795c6d-b016-4a5f-abab-b99a14457998\" class=\"dcr-5h0uf4\" data-spacefinder-role=\"showcase\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\">\n<div id=\"img-2\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><picture class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e62ad204544d2a2ea00658e4f5c48eaafbb9524a\/0_0_6192_4128\/master\/6192.jpg?width=880&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 1300px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 1300px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e62ad204544d2a2ea00658e4f5c48eaafbb9524a\/0_0_6192_4128\/master\/6192.jpg?width=880&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 1300px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e62ad204544d2a2ea00658e4f5c48eaafbb9524a\/0_0_6192_4128\/master\/6192.jpg?width=800&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 1140px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 1140px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e62ad204544d2a2ea00658e4f5c48eaafbb9524a\/0_0_6192_4128\/master\/6192.jpg?width=800&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 1140px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e62ad204544d2a2ea00658e4f5c48eaafbb9524a\/0_0_6192_4128\/master\/6192.jpg?width=640&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 980px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 980px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e62ad204544d2a2ea00658e4f5c48eaafbb9524a\/0_0_6192_4128\/master\/6192.jpg?width=640&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 980px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e62ad204544d2a2ea00658e4f5c48eaafbb9524a\/0_0_6192_4128\/master\/6192.jpg?width=620&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 660px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 660px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e62ad204544d2a2ea00658e4f5c48eaafbb9524a\/0_0_6192_4128\/master\/6192.jpg?width=620&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 660px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e62ad204544d2a2ea00658e4f5c48eaafbb9524a\/0_0_6192_4128\/master\/6192.jpg?width=605&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 480px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 480px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e62ad204544d2a2ea00658e4f5c48eaafbb9524a\/0_0_6192_4128\/master\/6192.jpg?width=605&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 480px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e62ad204544d2a2ea00658e4f5c48eaafbb9524a\/0_0_6192_4128\/master\/6192.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 320px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 320px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e62ad204544d2a2ea00658e4f5c48eaafbb9524a\/0_0_6192_4128\/master\/6192.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/e62ad204544d2a2ea00658e4f5c48eaafbb9524a\/0_0_6192_4128\/master\/6192.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" alt=\"Welcome to Obamaland \u2026 a statue of Barack and Michelle.\" width=\"445\" height=\"296.66666666666663\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"dcr-9ktzqp\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\"><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Welcome to Obamaland \u2026 a statue of Barack and Michelle.<\/span> Photograph: Paul Beaty\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWe had the idea of a beacon,\u201d says architect Billie Tsien, whose practice, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, <a href=\"https:\/\/twbta.com\/work\/cultural\/the-obama-presidential-center\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">won the design competition for the Obama Presidential Center in 2016<\/a>, on the eve of the first Trump presidency. \u201cWe thought of four hands coming together,\u201d she adds, holding her cupped hands up against a colleague\u2019s, as if protecting a flame from the wind.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Above us, sheer walls of granite erupt from the ground at a steep angle, before tapering to form a chiselled 70-metre-high monolith. It looks hewn and cleft, towering over the 19-acre campus like a stocky, truncated obelisk. Rising above the low-rise, low-income neighbourhood, the building has an ominous presence, its mostly windowless heft recalling a menacing sci-fi headquarters, with small chamfered openings suggesting portals from where drones might be launched, or lasers fired. Some have compared it to a flak tower, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfmd.com\/2026\/02\/17\/obama-dragged-for-headache-inducing-presidential-center-update-that-has-visitors-squinting\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">others to a \u201cKlingon prison\u201d<\/a>. If it is a beacon of hope, it seems to be one that has been fortified at all costs against the present regime, a defensive bunker to protect its fragile values from siege.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThe president was very, very hands on with the design,\u201d says Tsien, with a rueful air. \u201cHe talked a lot about his love of Br\u00e2ncu\u0219i.\u201d That\u2019s the Romanian sculptor who was known for his carved, abstract forms. \u201cAnd he wanted to make things more angular and cut. To make a form, and then try to work out what goes inside it, is really the opposite of how we\u2019ve worked before. It was a very foreign exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"dcr-19m4xhf\" data-spacefinder-role=\"supporting\" data-gu-name=\"pullquote\">\n<blockquote class=\"dcr-zzndwp\"><p>At the restaurant, you can order an Obama burger or Michelle\u2019s family chilli<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Obama has spoken of wanting to be an architect, before he chose law, and he clearly relished the chance to wield his conceptual chisel. \u201cWhen you have a client who says that, you get kind of uncomfortable,\u201d admits Tsien. \u201cIt usually means they\u2019ve got big opinions, and he definitely had big opinions. But he was a very good critic.\u201d She says the Obama Foundation, which runs the centre, \u201cwanted something \u2018iconic\u2019 which isn\u2019t how we\u2019ve worked before. I don\u2019t think you can design something to be iconic.\u201d Her face falls when we encounter <a href=\"https:\/\/shop.obama.org\/products\/obama-presidential-center-building-figurine\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">3D-printed plastic models of the building for sale in the gift shop<\/a>, priced at $40. Still, the client got what it wanted: this memorable menhir won\u2019t be mistaken for anything else on your mantelpiece.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad-slot-container ad-slot-container-2 ad-slot-container--right-column ad-slot-container--offset-right\" data-ad-slot=\"true\">\n<div id=\"dfp-ad--inline2\" class=\"js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline2\" data-link-name=\"ad slot inline2\" data-name=\"inline2\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In the reluctant search for an icon, inspiration also came from a rock that Tsien and Williams acquired on a trip to Ethiopia, of a similar faceted shape to the building, with letterforms carved across its surface. Given that Obama was one of the finest presidential orators since Lincoln, it only seemed fitting to wrap the facade with his words. The lines, from his speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of the marches from Selma to Montgomery, now form a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obama.org\/stories\/exterior\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">sun-shading screen at the top of the tower\u2019s south-west corner<\/a>. \u201cYOU ARE AMERICA,\u201d you can just about make out, before the words dissolve into an illegible sea of letters. \u201cI don\u2019t know why it\u2019s in Latin,\u201d one confused local resident told me. The lorem ipsum vibes are real.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"44a0eecc-32f1-42a5-9e37-90d19d91af16\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\">\n<div id=\"img-3\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><picture class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/33281f26a1554708b2eac71ed5267b670fd63f62\/0_0_4284_3023\/master\/4284.jpg?width=620&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 660px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 660px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/33281f26a1554708b2eac71ed5267b670fd63f62\/0_0_4284_3023\/master\/4284.jpg?width=620&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 660px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/33281f26a1554708b2eac71ed5267b670fd63f62\/0_0_4284_3023\/master\/4284.jpg?width=605&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 480px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 480px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/33281f26a1554708b2eac71ed5267b670fd63f62\/0_0_4284_3023\/master\/4284.jpg?width=605&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 480px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/33281f26a1554708b2eac71ed5267b670fd63f62\/0_0_4284_3023\/master\/4284.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 320px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 320px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/33281f26a1554708b2eac71ed5267b670fd63f62\/0_0_4284_3023\/master\/4284.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/33281f26a1554708b2eac71ed5267b670fd63f62\/0_0_4284_3023\/master\/4284.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" alt=\"Memorable menhir \u2026 the $40 replicas.\" width=\"445\" height=\"314.01377217553693\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"dcr-fd61eq\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\"><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Memorable menhir \u2026 the $40 replicas.<\/span> Photograph: Oliver Wainwright<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The tower is the most visible part of a vast four-building campus, wrought in blocky grey granite volumes, with bronze trimming and concrete interiors, lending the place a rather funereal air. There is a \u201cforum\u201d, housing an auditorium, gift shop, cafe and restaurant (where you can order an Obama burger or Michelle\u2019s family chilli), and a branch of the Chicago Public Library, featuring a presidential reading room of Obama\u2019s favourite books, where you can sit in his favourite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carlhansen.com\/en\/en\/collection\/chairs\/lounge-chairs\/ch445\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Hans Wegner reading chair<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">At some points, the Obamamania gets a bit much \u2013 there is even an Obama tulip variety in the garden, a gift from the Dutch. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obama.org\/visit\/campus\/art-collection\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Numerous art commissions<\/a> help to relieve the pervasive greyness, from Mark Bradford\u2019s riotous map of Chicago in the atrium, to Julie Mehretu\u2019s colourful stained glass window, which beams out from the northern facade at night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The buildings frame a stately granite plaza on one side, while their rears are hunkered into an undulating landscape \u2013 designed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mvvainc.com\/projects\/obama-presidential-center\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Michael Van Valkenburg Associates<\/a> \u2013 that climbs on to their rooftops, including fruit and vegetable planters inspired by Michelle\u2019s garden at the White House. Farther south, past an impressively equipped playground, sledging hill and bowl-shaped great lawn, is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.obama.org\/visit\/campus\/home-court\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Home Court<\/a>, a shiny aluminium-clad sports pavilion by Moody Nolan, the largest African American owned design firm in the US. It features an indoor NBA-spec basketball court, emblazoned with inspirational Obama-isms, like \u201cYes we can,\u201d and \u201cNo one does big things alone\u201d \u2013 a motto the foundation stood by in bringing another architect on board, when Williams and Tsien\u2019s plan got too pricey, with not entirely happy results. The angular metal shed looks like a cheap afterthought, but it will hopefully be a boon for the community.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"9318368e-e9a6-4e72-8d41-0d8cead94127\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\">\n<div id=\"img-4\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><picture class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b2a4f9927b217995280e8e77404e262ed6990dcf\/0_0_4283_3536\/master\/4283.jpg?width=620&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 660px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 660px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b2a4f9927b217995280e8e77404e262ed6990dcf\/0_0_4283_3536\/master\/4283.jpg?width=620&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 660px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b2a4f9927b217995280e8e77404e262ed6990dcf\/0_0_4283_3536\/master\/4283.jpg?width=605&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 480px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 480px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b2a4f9927b217995280e8e77404e262ed6990dcf\/0_0_4283_3536\/master\/4283.jpg?width=605&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 480px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b2a4f9927b217995280e8e77404e262ed6990dcf\/0_0_4283_3536\/master\/4283.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 320px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 320px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b2a4f9927b217995280e8e77404e262ed6990dcf\/0_0_4283_3536\/master\/4283.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/b2a4f9927b217995280e8e77404e262ed6990dcf\/0_0_4283_3536\/master\/4283.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" alt=\"Obama-isms \u2026 the Presidential Center\u2019s interior.\" width=\"445\" height=\"367.3873453187019\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"dcr-fd61eq\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\"><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Obama-isms \u2026 the Presidential Center\u2019s interior.<\/span> Photograph: Oliver Wainwright<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"ad-slot-container ad-slot-container-3 ad-slot-container--right-column ad-slot-container--offset-right\" data-ad-slot=\"true\">\n<div id=\"dfp-ad--inline3\" class=\"js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline3\" data-link-name=\"ad slot inline3\" data-name=\"inline3\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">It faces on to the sledging hill, which was originally to house a subterranean archive, until it was decided that this would be the first presidential library that wasn\u2019t actually a library. (This may be why its official title is the Obama Presidential Center.) To the concern of some historians, Obama\u2019s is the first entirely digital presidential archive, the centre run not by the National Archives, but by his own private foundation, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/02\/20\/arts\/obama-presidential-center-library-national-archives-and-records-administration.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">raising concerns over its objectivity<\/a>. Where once there would have been stacks, there are now 400 parking spaces (despite Obama\u2019s promotion of public transit, this is still the US).<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The physical records might not be on site, but the professed aim to transform the presidential library from a scholarly research centre to a bustling hub of community activity is an admirable ambition. \u201cWe didn\u2019t build [the centre] to celebrate my ability to bring about change,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DYSnN2ERDPf\/?hl=en\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Obama declares in a promotional video<\/a>. \u201cWe did it to unlock yours.\u201d It is not just a library, but a \u201ccampus dedicated to supporting future change makers\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The transformational change, he hopes, will happen inside the enigmatic tower where, for $30 a ticket, visitors are transported through four floors of an immersive, interactive Obama experience \u2013 a vertical Obamarama. Designed by <a href=\"https:\/\/raai.com\/project\/the-obama-presidential-center\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">Ralph Appelbaum Associates<\/a>, it is an action-packed romp through the couple\u2019s life story, beginning with the civil rights movements that inspired them, their political campaigns, achievements in office, life in the White House, and how you too can \u201cbring change home\u201d (a motto printed on the gift shop bag).<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">There is also a full-size recreation of the Oval Office, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2025\/sep\/01\/trump-oval-office-gold-before-after-decor-white-house-makeover\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">pre-Trump\u2019s Home Depot gilding<\/a>, where you can stand in line for a selfie at the Resolute desk. Other highlights include campaign memorabilia, from badges to custom Air Jordans, and doll\u2019s house dioramas of various White House rooms \u2013 a particularly poignant inclusion, given <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/commentisfree\/2026\/apr\/30\/trump-white-house-ballroom-bunker\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">the mutilation the building is currently enduring<\/a>. At the preview days, there were boxes of tissues aplenty.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"3ec4ff25-de3b-4b6b-8868-a1426eb42ee3\" class=\"dcr-173mewl\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" data-spacefinder-type=\"model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.ImageBlockElement\">\n<div id=\"img-5\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><picture class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/a288cf7c25ff3236f4b12c3c39dc1611c8ee1679\/0_0_4284_5712\/master\/4284.jpg?width=620&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 660px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 660px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/a288cf7c25ff3236f4b12c3c39dc1611c8ee1679\/0_0_4284_5712\/master\/4284.jpg?width=620&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 660px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/a288cf7c25ff3236f4b12c3c39dc1611c8ee1679\/0_0_4284_5712\/master\/4284.jpg?width=605&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 480px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 480px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/a288cf7c25ff3236f4b12c3c39dc1611c8ee1679\/0_0_4284_5712\/master\/4284.jpg?width=605&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 480px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/a288cf7c25ff3236f4b12c3c39dc1611c8ee1679\/0_0_4284_5712\/master\/4284.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=2&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 320px) and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 1.25), (min-width: 320px) and (min-resolution: 120dpi)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/a288cf7c25ff3236f4b12c3c39dc1611c8ee1679\/0_0_4284_5712\/master\/4284.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/a288cf7c25ff3236f4b12c3c39dc1611c8ee1679\/0_0_4284_5712\/master\/4284.jpg?width=445&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" alt=\"The \u2018sky room\u2019 where you look through Obama\u2019s words.\" width=\"445\" height=\"593.3333333333333\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"dcr-fd61eq\" data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\"><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">Elevated viewpoint \u2026 the \u2018sky room\u2019 where you look through Obama\u2019s words.<\/span> Photograph: Oliver Wainwright<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"ad-slot-container ad-slot-container-4 ad-slot-container--right-column ad-slot-container--offset-right\" data-ad-slot=\"true\">\n<div id=\"dfp-ad--inline4\" class=\"js-ad-slot ad-slot ad-slot--inline ad-slot--inline4\" data-link-name=\"ad slot inline4\" data-name=\"inline4\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">An elevator finally whisks you past a private presidential suite to the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.obama.org\/visit\/museum\/sky-room\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">sky room<\/a>\u201d at the tower\u2019s summit, where panoramic windows frame the city, beneath a momentous white pyramid-shaped ceiling \u2013 the pharaonic chamber at last! It was intended to have a celestial quality, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.victoria-miro.com\/news\/2276\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">blue words by artist Idris Khan tumbling from the sky<\/a>. But, in a major blunder, the pyramid doesn\u2019t culminate in a skylight, but a solid white plasterboard ceiling \u2013 perhaps an unintended metaphor for barriers that must still be overcome.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">From this elevated eyrie, looking out through the big concrete letters, you get a good sense of how the Obama centre fits into the neighbourhood, and why it has been quite so controversial. Down below stretches Jackson Park, laid out in 1871 by Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of New York\u2019s Central Park, part of which was ceded for the presidential complex. The decision to build on a public park <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armstrongteasdale.com\/thought-leadership\/maybe-we-can-legal-challenges-to-the-proposed-obama-presidential-center-in-jackson-park-are-running-out-of-time\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">sparked furious lawsuits<\/a>, but the foundation insists that the project has resulted in more parkland and more trees, thanks to the removal of a road. Still, the symbolic land-grab struck a nerve, when there are so many vacant lots nearby.<\/p>\n<footer class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Beyond the neighbouring public housing, you can also see a clutch of new luxury apartment towers that have shot up in the last decade \u2013 a result of the Obama gentrification effect that local residents accurately feared the new centre would bring. The project has fuelled a frenzy of land speculation, seeing rents rise and <a href=\"https:\/\/abc7chicago.com\/post\/chicago-obama-presidential-center-chaney-braggs-apartments-tenants-fear-displacement-rent-price-hike\/18681448\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">low-income tenants facing displacement<\/a>, the centre\u2019s projected $3.1bn of economic uplift perhaps not yet reaching those who need it most. Just like his presidency, the Obama campus was no doubt conceived with the best of intentions. And, as with his time in office, the impact of this mighty stone monument to hope looks set to be equally mixed.<\/p>\n<\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Like a Klingon prison\u2019: inside Barack Obama\u2019s audacious, near-windowless, $850m presidential library Towering over a low-income area of Chicago, and wrapped in a speech that\u2019s hard to decipher, this controversial monolith feels like a menacing sci-fi HQ. Is it a monument \u2013 or a mausoleum? Egyptians had their pyramids. The Anglo-Saxons had their barrows. And [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-obama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1199"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1202,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1199\/revisions\/1202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sterlingcooper.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}