HOK has teamed with the President Obama Library and Museum Campus Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, on a planning and site selection proposal for hosting the Barack Obama Presidential Library in Chicago.
In a design bid submitted with Hawthorne Strategy Group to The Barack Obama Foundation on June 16, the team proposed locating the library on a site in Bronzeville, a historic neighborhood on Chicagoâs South Side. Developed by an integrated planning and design team in collaboration with more than 20 firms, organizations and community groups, the proposal for the library embodies the grassroots spirit of the Obama campaign to reflect the Presidentâs agenda.
âOur proposal challenges the historic trend of designing presidential libraries as static repositories of a presidency,â said Peter Ruggiero, AIA, design principal for HOKâs Chicago practice. âBy fully realizing the potential of the site, the Barack Obama Presidential Library would go beyond cataloguing President Obamaâs eight years in office. As a living part of this historic South Side neighborhood, it would drive economic development and reinforce a sense of place at a crossroads of Chicago.â
Echoing architect Daniel Burnhamâs admonition to âmake no small plans,â the vision for the Bronzeville site is comprehensive and bold. HOKâs design acknowledges the areaâs history as the cityâs original African-American neighborhood while positioning the Obama Presidential Library as a catalyst to promote sustainable growth and attract investments that will deliver significant economic benefits to the community and region.
âThe Barack Obama Presidential Library represents a seed of transformation that, once planted, would have the power to revitalize this important site,â said Ruggiero. âIt creates new urban spaces that will reinvigorate the local community and initiate enduring change.â
Based on the 1909 Burnham Plan, Chicagoâs strong urban grid and appropriately scaled streets provide seamless connections among neighborhoods, parks and Lake Michigan. The former Michael Reese Hospital campus in Bronzeville, however, currently creates a barrier between Bronzeville and the lakefront. The design proposal gives the south lakefront back to the people of Chicago, extending the Chicago Museum Campus to the south and filling a gap in a necklace of public city assets that stretches from Evanston to Northwest Indiana.
HOKâs biomimetic plan for the Obama Presidential Library aims to achieve Living Building Challenge certification. Principles of biomimicry will create a site that is functionally indistinguishable from the regionâs natural coastal environment and that fills a gap in Illinoisâ Millennium Reserve habitat restoration program.
âThe Obama Presidential Library itself will be a model of 21st-century healthy urban living, carbon neutrality and regenerative design,â said Colin Rohlfing, HOKâs sustainable design leader in Chicago.
An elevated park would offer park views along 31st, 29th and 26th Streets, welcoming the community to the site. Connecting the site to Lake Michigan creates an important new green space in the city that has the potential to house vertical farms and land dedicated to research in environmental and related sciences. See the design bid on Issuu.
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HOK is a global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm. Through a network of 23 offices worldwide, HOK provides design excellence and innovation to create places that enrich people's lives and help clients succeed. For four consecutive years, DesignIntelligence has ranked HOK as a leader in sustainable and high-performance design.
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The proposal envisions the library as a catalyst for a new lakefront connection in Bronzeville.
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A new urban neighborhood would extend southward from the city's existing Museum Campus.
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The existing site is fairly barren and was once the home of Michael Reese Hospital.
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