I have a terrible confession to make

No books!

And I don’t think it’s going to have a reading room.

Design is also god awful.

 

The new concept stores that Barnes and Noble have started rolling out suck. At least the one here does. Sterile.

But they do have a bar, so I could read my purchase while having a beer.

 

Did I db this one?

 

That's dedication. YankeeFan can't even let the guy's library go without criticism.

 

Most presidential libraries are research facilities and museums, so have no real "reading rooms" but lots of pleasant public spaces.

And I can't think of a single one going back decades that didn't take a beating at first from architecture critics. Eventually, like presidents themselves, the buildings age into genteel harmlessness.

They're usually pretty nice places to hang out, however.

U.S. Presidential Libraries | Architectural Digest

 

Sure. And, I should have been a little more clear when I said, "no books." The Obama museum is going to be different. In fat, it won't be a library at all. None of his papers and letters, and whatnot will be on site. It's going to be a "virtual" library. All of the documents are going to be digitized, with the hard copies remaining in the possession of the National Archives.

Why it's no longer a presidential library. Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, decided against a traditional presidential library run and staffed by the federal National Archives & Records Administration. One reason: They wanted the museum director to be employed by the foundation, not the federal government.

The Obama Foundation will pay for Obama's papers and records to be digitized, a process expected to be finished in time for the center's 2021 opening. The National Archives & Records Administration, which owns presidential records, will store the physical papers and artifacts in one of its facilities and make those records accessible to the public. As for the chances that Obama's papers could end up years later in Hawaii or at Columbia University, the foundation says that will not happen.

The foundation sees the project as a chance to rethink the presidential library, an opportunity that presents itself only once every four to eight years. "With digitization and the era we're living in, this will become the new model," Simas says. He adds that the Obama Presidential Center will offer the same experience as the more traditional presidential libraries. "If you go to any other presidential library, people are going to the museum," not the records rooms.

Crain's Chicago Business

And, no, unlike something like the NYPL or the LOC, you wouldn't expect a traditional reading room.

And, maybe, over time, Chicagoans and critics will come to love the design of the building and grounds, but, so far, the consensus is pretty negative.

 

I was clarifying as much for oop as anyone.

Pei's Kennedy Library was disliked at the time, and Bunshaft's LBJ library in Austin. Maybe dq can weigh in on that. All that high-minded high modernism and brutalist ambition.

On the other side of things, places like the Reagan were derided for being too vernacular, too downmarket.

Critics need something to write about; and it often takes a long time for folks to recognize a building's beauty or utility. And to suss out its effect on its neighborhood.

Be interesting to see how things unfold for the Obama project - which as you point out is as much a digital hub as anything.

 

That model would have been better served not using trees that look like Tim Burton made them for Sleepy Hollow.

 

This will be the name of Trump's library.

 

I didn't need the clarification. My post was a joke based on the poster's history on this site.

 

Been there a few times ... pretty cool. Lady Bird's office on the top floor is as it was when she was actually still working there.

Here's a pic of the actual archived documents ... lotta damn paperwork is all I'm sayin' ...

 

Dammit, quant, how could you gloss over the most marvelous part of that amazing edifice? I just wish they would program in the Haggar slacks bit for a week or so.