00:00I sat down with Alexandra and we started off by asking her about this comparison.
00:04Historically, the presidential libraries have housed a biographical exhibit about the president,
00:10usually very, you know, hagiographic and praiseworthy. And then they've also housed
00:16the presidential archives. So any researcher who wants to write about that president will
00:20have to go to the presidential library to research the president.
00:24Like all the papers from their desks, all the unclassified files.
00:26Thousands and thousands of square feet papers. But Obama decided to do it a little differently.
00:33When they went to look at his papers, they found that 95 percent of them were digital
00:37because he is a contemporary president.
00:40I do remember when I covered him, he was the first president who had his own BlackBerry.
00:43There was like a whole thing where they had to figure out how he could have a digital device.
00:46So, I mean, I guess that makes sense.
00:48Yeah. So they were like, why should we build a building that has various sort of security
00:55and archival procedures that have to be kept and has these hundreds of square feet of papers
01:03if, in fact, these archives are not papers. So they decided to let the National Archives
01:09in Washington, D.C. sort of hold and take care of his papers as digital files.
01:15They'll be available to anyone, anywhere.
01:22So then what does it do? If it's not about the paperwork, which I guess I get.
01:31It just seems strange. That's what I think of the libraries as.
01:34What is inside of it? I mean, I've seen some of the pictures.
01:36There's a costume display. There's some art. There's some exhibits.
01:39It doesn't seem like there's a lot of like archival objects, like tangible objects in there.
01:44There are actually some objects. So, I mean, what they decided to do essentially was to make one
01:50building that houses the biographical exhibit that all the presidents have. And then they have
01:55an entire rest of the campus that's doing a lot of other things. There's a forum building for events.
02:01There's a branch of the Chicago Public Library. There's a beautiful, beautiful playground.
02:05And there's home court, which is a NBA regulation sized basketball court.
02:11I did read that there was a basketball court. That makes sense.
02:13Yes. So the exhibition within the museum tower, which is this 225 foot tall building that some
02:22people are calling the Obamalisk, is four stories.
02:25As opposed to Obelisk, right?
02:27Yes. It's four stories of exhibitions on the life of Obama and his presidency.
02:36And the overall theme is really democracy. Like, how can we see democracy in action,
02:43you know, kind of before, after, during his presidency? And they do actually have a lot
02:48of interesting objects in there. It opens with kind of with a display that's really about
02:54historical people led movements. So there are objects from the abolition movement, objects
03:00from the labor movement. There is a copy of the Declaration of Independence. And then you move
03:06into the biographies of Barack and Michelle Obama. And they have a bunch of childhood things like they
03:12have a like a ceramic disc with his handprint that he made in school. They have a hanging that his
03:19mother wove while she was pregnant with him. And I actually found those objects quite touching
03:25because the overall design of the exhibition, which is by Ralph Applebaum Associates, is like
03:31very word heavy, video heavy. And to me, actually, you get more emotional charge from these real
03:39things. Yeah. Including a number of Michelle Obama's like most famous dresses that you remember
03:46seeing in a photo or that, you know, seem like something that, you know, a president did when he
03:50was young, but you also did when you were young.
03:52So where you seem to find this whole endeavor less successful is the actual architecture of
03:58the building itself, the form and then kind of where it sits in the community. And by having
04:03you right by trying to have several different purposes, it maybe didn't succeed at any of
04:08them. Can you explain? Yeah. So when the Obamas decided not to have the archives on the campus,
04:16they had to decide like what what was the rest of its purpose? Like what is the purpose besides
04:23memorializing the Obama presidency? And they decided to create a bunch of community facilities that are
04:31going to be free. And and by placing the whole center on the south side, by making them available
04:38to a community that historically has been under resourced. Right. So that whole part is great. I mean,
04:45I could quibble with some, you know, parts of how it's deployed, but like that seems wonderful.
04:50And that does seem like a real tribute to the ideals of the Obama presidency and the fact that he
04:57started
04:57out as a community organizer. But the building that houses the the biographical exhibit is extremely
05:06oversized, extremely imperial. It stands up like this tower and there will never be anything built around
05:13it because it's placed on the edge of Jackson Park. And that, to me, is actually really off-putting.
05:20So it's like on one hand, they're saying, welcome, like this is a place for the community to hang out.
05:26Like, yeah, your kids can run around like we have snacks. And then on the other hand, they have this,
05:33you know, rather forbidding and foreboding like gray granite tower that's 225 feet tall,
05:40that has all of these kind of empty double height spaces inside. And it's just like, why did it need
05:47to be so big? Like, you know, could you have correctly honored his presidency in a smaller, more
05:56approachable, more accessible building? And I really think you could have.
06:00Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me.
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