Towering over a low-income area of Chicago, the new Obama Presidential Center has drawn comparisons to a 'Klingon prison' and a 'menacing sci-fi HQ'. The $850m complex, designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, features a 70-metre-high granite monolith with few windows, prompting critics to question whether it is a monument or a mausoleum.
Barack Obama was heavily involved in the design, insisting on angular, carved forms inspired by the sculptor Brâncuși. Architect Billie Tsien said Obama 'had big opinions' and wanted something 'iconic', a departure from the firm's usual approach. The building's windowless bulk has been likened to a flak tower or a defensive bunker.
The centre continues the American tradition of presidential libraries, which began with Franklin D Roosevelt in 1940. Previous examples include Lyndon B Johnson's brutalist hulk in Texas and Bill Clinton's cantilevered box in Arkansas. The Obama centre is the largest and costliest of them all, rising above the south side neighbourhood as a towering totem to the 44th president.
Tsien described the design concept as 'a beacon', with four hands coming together to protect a flame. However, the final form has been criticised as ominous and fortress-like. The Obama Foundation sought an iconic structure, and the result is certainly memorable, though not universally admired.
