{"id":8928,"date":"2026-06-04T10:30:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/angesfinanciers.org\/?p=8928"},"modified":"2026-06-05T15:09:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T15:09:21","slug":"tod-williams-billie-tsien-architects-completes-intentionally-sculptural-obama-presidential-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/angesfinanciers.org\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/tod-williams-billie-tsien-architects-completes-intentionally-sculptural-obama-presidential-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects completes “intentionally sculptural” Obama Presidential Center"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Obama<\/div>\n

A monumental granite-clad tower surrounded by artificial hills has been completed by US studio Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects<\/a> to honour US president Barack Obama.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ten years after Barack Obama left office, the Obama Presidential Center will open to visitors next week in Chicago’s South Side.<\/p>\n

Anchored by a 225-feet-high (69 meter) granite tower, the centre also contains numerous low-level buildings that were largely covered in landscaping.<\/p>\n

\"
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects completed the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The Center is intended to symbolize President Obama’s journey as both a community organizer and president of the United States,” said architect Paul Schulhof, who served as a partner for Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects<\/a> (TWBTA) on the project and now runs his own studio.<\/p>\n

“It is designed to empower visitors by helping them understand history while inspiring them to create change in their own communities,” he continued.<\/p>\n

“This idea is expressed architecturally through a campus of multiple buildings.”<\/p>\n

\"Granite
New Hampshire granite was used for the facade of the tower<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the auxiliary buildings are nestled into the landscape designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh<\/a>, the tower itself is monumental, a request from Obama that TWBTA co-founder Tod Williams said was surprising at first.<\/p>\n

“We didn’t think of a tall tower at that time,” he said, referring to the early stages of the design. “We thought the president was more modest, and it should be a more modest solution.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Wetland
The landscaping elements include a Wetland Park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tower is wrapped in New Hampshire granite, with parts of its apex made into five-foot-tall letters that spell out words from Obama’s speeches.<\/p>\n

This lettering creates a screen for a skyroom at the top of the structure, which is publicly accessible, as is the majority of the complex. According to Williams, the use of granite makes the building “emotional” .<\/p>\n

“The building is emotional because if it were raining, it’s dark \u2013 but when it’s sunny, it’s quite bright.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Obama
Recessed elements of the facade can be backlit at night<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few punched windows were included over the facade, which has an abstract, sculptural appearance that the architecture studio has likened to four hands meeting vertically in an embrace.<\/p>\n

“As a monolith, it’s actually four hands coming together,” said Williams. “We wanted the building to be interesting and different from each side, so that it’s actually iconic as a memory piece \u2013 it’s intentionally more sculptural, and we’re able to do that because, in fact, it didn’t require that many windows.”<\/p>\n

The entrance to the tower faces a paved courtyard that also gives access to the wide complex. At its entrance, a recess in the granite is filled by panes of frosted glass that can be illuminated at night.<\/p>\n

\"Sky
The publicly accessible viewing room at the top of the tower is hemmed in by a screen featuring quotations from Obama<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The centre is sited on a 19.3-acre campus on the northwest side of Jackson Park, where it connects to the horizontal Midway Plaisance Park on the south edge of the University of Chicago.<\/p>\n

Jackson Park was designed in the late 19th century by American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, of Central Park fame, and preservationists were initially unhappy<\/a> with the decision to disrupt the design of the urban park.<\/p>\n