CHICAGO — The Obama Foundation released the conceptual vision and site map for the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) in Chicago at a community event hosted by Barack and Michelle Obama on Wednesday, May 3. The center will be integrated into Jackson Park, a historic park on the South Side of Chicago.
The design concept includes three buildings: a museum, forum and library. The museum, the tallest of the three buildings, will hold exhibition space, public spaces, offices and education and meeting rooms. The forum will contain Obama Foundation offices, an auditorium, restaurant and public garden. The forum and library will be single-story structures with planted roof terraces and will serve as community resources. The total size of the center will range between 200,000 and 225,000 square feet, but the concept site plan imagines a reshaping of the park that will result in a total net increase in green space for Jackson Park. The center is slated to open in late 2021.
The design team for the OPC is led by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners and Interactive Design Architects. The landscape design team is comprised of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Site Design Group and Living Habitats. Ralph Appelbaum Associates will lead the exhibition design team for the OPC, in partnership with Civic Projects and Normal, and artists and educators Amanda Williams, Andres Hernandez and Norman Teague. The Center Consortium, a tri-venture comprised of Jones Lang LaSalle, McKissack & McKissack and Ardmore Associates, is leading the project management of the design and construction of the OPC.