President Barack Obama’s library will be designed by the New York firm Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and the Chicago-based Interactive Design Architects, the Obama Foundation announced Thursday.
The two groups will oversee construction of the Chicago library, a project that could involve collaboration with up to 15-20 architects, the foundation said. Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, a husband-and-wife team, were chosen from seven finalists.
Projects by Williams and Tsien have included the American Folk Art Museum and the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, as well as the University of Chicago’s Logan Center for the Arts. Interactive Design’s work includes the modern wing at the Art Institute of Chicago and the courtroom renovations at the Milwaukee federal building.
“Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners stood out in their commitment to exploring, together with the Foundation, the best ways of creating an innovative center for action that inspires communities and individuals to take on our biggest challenges,” Obama Foundation Chairman Martin Nesbitt said in a statement. “Interactive Design Architects brings local knowledge and a track record for delivering excellence to large, complex civic projects.”
Washington Park and Jackson Park, both near the Obamas’ Hyde Park home, are the two finalists for the library’s location. Obama announced more than a year ago that the library would be built in Chicago.
An additional post from Curbed.com
