Obama Presidential Center | From "Me" to "We":
A New Monument for Democracy + Interviews
Obama Presidential Center — A New Civic Landmark in Chicago | Featuring President Barack Obama & the Architects Behind the Project
Rising from the historic landscape of Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side, the Obama Presidential Center stands among the most ambitious civic and cultural projects built in the United States in recent decades.
Designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA), the 19-acre campus is anchored by a 225-foot (69-meter) granite-clad tower and complemented by the Forum, the Library, public gardens, gathering spaces, and an expansive landscape designed to serve the city for generations to come.
More than a presidential library, the project was conceived as a democratic campus, a place where architecture, education, culture, and civic engagement come together. Inspired by the belief that meaningful change emerges through collective action, a principle that defined the presidency of President Barack Obama, the Center reimagines what a presidential institution can be: not a monument to the past, but a platform for the future.
In this film, we experience the project through a poetic and cinematic architectural journey, exploring how landscape, materiality, light, and public space come together to create an environment that belongs as much to the people of Chicago as it does to the legacy of the Obama Presidency.
The film also features a rare and extensive interview with President Barack Obama, alongside conversations with the architects of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, offering unique insight into the ideas, values, and ambitions that shaped the project over more than a decade of development.
Throughout the conversation, the President reflects on his vision for a place that would remain active and meaningful long after his time in office, a campus where visitors can learn from history, engage with their communities, and discover their own capacity to create change. The architects share how concepts such as democracy, belonging, participation, and the idea of moving “from me to we” became the foundation for a project expressed not through a single building, but through an interconnected collection of spaces woven into the landscape.
At the heart of the campus stands the iconic tower, a monumental form whose granite façade changes continuously with light, weather, and time of day. Engraved excerpts from President Barack Obama’s historic Selma speech further reinforce the building’s symbolic role as a vessel for civic memory and collective aspiration.
Surrounding the architecture, planted roofs, gardens, playgrounds, gathering spaces, sports facilities, and community programs transform the campus into what the design team describes as a truly democratic landscape, one where all people are welcome and encouraged to participate.
This film explores architecture’s ability to shape civic life, foster belonging, and give physical form to ideas that extend far beyond the boundaries of a building. Through architecture, landscape, and conversation, the Obama Presidential Center offers a powerful vision of what public space can become in the twenty-first century.
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