A search has begun to find the architecture firm that will design the proposed Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The group overseeing the process, the Barack Obama Foundation, declined to say how many firms have applied to design the library and museum.
The foundation did say that while foreign applicants are being considered, at least 90% of the invited firms are American, with a good portion from Chicago. If a foreign architect wins the nod, it will be the first time a non-American has designed an American presidential library.
Firms have until September 16 to submit credentials, references, and work examples. Finalists will be selected later this year, and the winner will be announced early next year.
The center is expected to be built on Chicago's South Side, either in Jackson Park or Washington Park, both located in predominantly African-American communities.
The foundation plans for the library to have community gardens, dining spots, presidential archives, and other features. It is expected to cost at least $500 million and not be completed until 2020-21.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Healthcare
11. Operating Room-Integrated MRI will Help Neurosurgeons Get it Right the First Time A major limitation of traditional brain cancer surgery is the lack of scanning capability in the operating room. Neurosurgeons do their best to visually identify and remove the cancerous tissue, but only an MRI scan will confirm if the operation was a complete success or not.
| Aug 11, 2010
Great Solutions: Collaboration
9. HOK Takes Videoconferencing to A New Level with its Advanced Collaboration Rooms To help foster collaboration among its 2,212 employees while cutting travel time, expenses, and carbon emissions traveling between its 24 office locations, HOK is fitting out its major offices with prototype videoconferencing rooms that are like no other in the U.
| Aug 11, 2010
2009 Judging Panel
A Matthew H. Johnson, PE Associate Principal Simpson Gumpertz & HegerWaltham, Mass. B K. Nam Shiu, SE, PEVP Walker Restoration Consultants Elgin, Ill. C David P. Callan, PE, CEM, LEED APSVPEnvironmental Systems DesignChicago D Ken Osmun, PA, DBIA, LEED AP Group President, ConstructionWight & Company Darien, Ill.
| Aug 11, 2010
Inspiring Offices: Office Design That Drives Creativity
Office design has always been linked to productivity—how many workers can be reasonably squeezed into a given space—but why isn’t it more frequently linked to creativity? “In general, I don’t think enough people link the design of space to business outcome,” says Janice Linster, partner with the Minneapolis design firm Studio Hive.
| Aug 11, 2010
BIM school, green school: California's newest high-performance school
Nestled deep in the Napa Valley, the city of American Canyon is one of a number of new communities in Northern California that have experienced tremendous growth in the last five years. Located 42 miles northeast of San Francisco, American Canyon had a population of just over 9,000 in 2000; by 2008, that figure stood at 15,276, with 28% of the population under age 18.
