Obama Center Architecture: Praised Park, Forbidding Tower

As the Obama Presidential Center prepares to open its doors to the public on Juneteenth, the $850 million campus on Chicago’s South Side has drawn sharply divided architectural reviews — with critics celebrating its redesigned parkland as among the best urban spaces in the city while describing its signature 225-foot museum tower as imposing and forbidding.

The New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman, in a review published Tuesday, captured the duality at the heart of the project: a beautifully landscaped public campus that may be “second only to Millennium Park” in quality, anchored by a “blocky, granite-clad” tower that the former president wanted to resemble four hands coming together in solidarity.

A Decade in the Making

The center, designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, sits on 19.3 acres of historic Jackson Park — the same park Frederick Law Olmsted designed for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Construction began in August 2021 after years of site selection, community debate, and legal challenges. The campus includes a museum tower, a forum building, a library, a Chicago Public Library branch, a basketball court called “Home Court,” children’s playgrounds, gardens, and works by 30 commissioned artists.

Barack Obama was personally involved in the design, choosing the stone cladding and insisting on a high tower to offer panoramic views of the city where he began his political career. The building’s nearly windowless granite exterior was intentional — few windows protect artifacts inside, including a replica of the Oval Office.

The Tower: A Riddlesome Building

The 225-foot museum tower has become the most contentious element of the project. In a city celebrated as the birthplace of the modern skyscraper, the granite monolith stands apart from Chicago’s tradition of glassy high-rises. As the Associated Press described it, the “nearly windowless exterior” is “more suited to a sci-fi film set than the state-of-the art presidential museum held within.”

Chicago Sun-Times architecture columnist Lee Bey, in his review, acknowledged that the tower has been a “riddlesome, what-the-heck-is-this kind of a building” since it began rising from Jackson Park. He noted that discourse around design is so fierce in Chicago that architecture criticism is “a spectator sport.” His initial impression was that the building looked more suited to a cemetery.

Edward Keegan, a Chicago Tribune architecture columnist, called the museum “an un-Chicago building” due to its few windows and unusual shape, though he added that “it doesn’t feel like any other place in Chicago. It does feel unique and unexpected.”

The Park: A Triumph of Public Space

While the tower has drawn criticism, the surrounding campus has been widely praised. Kimmelman’s review described the center’s companion buildings, plaza, and redesigned park space as among the best urban spaces in Chicago, potentially ranking second only to Millennium Park. The landscape architecture, led by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, transforms the Jackson Park setting into an inviting public realm with gardens, a public plaza, and spaces designed for community gathering.

This split between the tower and the park reflects a deeper question about whether the center succeeds as a community gathering space or as an architectural monument.

Community Tensions

The architectural debate is inseparable from broader community concerns about gentrification and displacement. For some South Side residents, the tower is a symbol of unwelcome change. Shannon Bennett of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization called the center “a Trojan horse” and “an extreme version of a scheme to transform these communities for another population.”

Valerie Jarrett, CEO of the Obama Foundation, defended the project, saying: “The benefit of having this extraordinary facility far outweighs any costs. It’s a symbol to the community of how important they are to us.” The foundation has emphasized community hiring plans and a 2020 compromise ordinance requiring 30% of units on 52 city-owned lots in Woodlawn to be reserved for low-income residents.

What’s Ahead

The Obama Presidential Center opens with a private dedication ceremony on June 18, followed by public opening on June 19. The question remains whether the tower’s design will age well — like Chicago’s John Hancock Center, initially compared to an oil rig but later beloved — or remain a point of contention. As Adam Rubin of the Chicago Architecture Center noted: “It really does have a sense of place. Time will tell how people utilize it.”

For now, Chicago has gained a major new cultural landmark — one that, like the president it honors, inspires strong and divided opinions.