Archinect - News

Google updates Thompson Center renderings before first full year of construction

2024-11-06T17:56:00-05:00

The renovation of Helmut Jahn’s fought-over Thompson Center building in Chicago for Google has provided an updated pair of renderings for the $280 million project. The update follows last December’s release of the initial images for the reimagining. Google is pledging to deliver a LEED Platinum-certified project in line with the late architect's post-modernist vision. Initial demolition work began in May and will advance over the next year towards completion in the year 2026.

Image courtesy Google and Pixelflakes

One of Helmut Jahn's final designs distinguishes itself on the Chicago skyline

2024-11-05T12:05:00-05:00

Critics are coming out in favor of a distinctive new residential apartment tower from Jahn after the building opened at the south end of Michigan Avenue in Chicago in June. The 1000M project is a new high-rise accommodation meant to anchor the historic thoroughfare with 73 total stories and 738 units.

Image credit: Tom Rossiter

Helmut Jahn is credited with leading its revised design from 2015 until his death in 2021, joined by a team that included Philip Castillo, Lynda Dossey, Peter Hayes, and Lucie Rigaldies.

Image credit: Tom Rossiter

Residents enjoy access to its ground-floor lobbies from both the street level and a stately porte-cochere located on the western axis. The manipulation of air rights for this project allowed the design's floor plates to gradually expand at the northeast or southeast corners from a rectangular base into a more softened parallelogram form.

Image credit: Tom Rossiter

A seven-level parking structure with 325 spaces services the building, which is draped...

Chicago Architecture Biennial picks UIC School of Architecture director Florencia Rodriguez to lead CAB 6, 'Shift'

2024-11-01T15:17:00-04:00

The scope of next year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB 6) will be responsive to changes within architecture and other salient issues united under the theme Shift: Architecture in Times of Radical Change and curated by UIC School of Architecture director Florencia Rodriguez.

The Biennial’s first female and Latin American Director, Rodriguez, will seek to chart a "new agenda for contemporary design" through the inclusion of installations, exhibitions, virtual initiatives, and other educational events taken from an international open call for what is now North America’s largest contemporary architecture exhibition.

She says the exhibition will be "an opportunity to gather global experiences, ideas, and projects that create an archive of contemporary architecture to inform decision making, education, debate, and collective thinking about the world we design."

Blair Kamin: ‘Writer underwriting writer’

2024-10-24T17:59:00-04:00

The [Chicago] Tribune, which had been reducing staff and budgets for years before Alden Global Capital accelerated the process with its May 2021 purchase of Tribune Publishing, did not replace Kamin, just as it did not replace several other culture writers who left the paper. So the retired critic took matters into his own hands.

We covered the debut of the Windy City’s newest critic Edward Keegan back in August along with the restart of work on 400 Lake Shore Drive. His position is being funded by Blair Kamin after Kamin stepped aside in January 2021. He explains the situation to Northwestern's vaunted J-school's Local News Initiative blog.

"I decided that if initially they weren’t going to make a grant, that I would make a grant myself to do this," he tells of his personal philanthropy. "But it’s complicated, because when you have a so-called donor-advised fund, you can’t give money legally to a for-profit enterprise. So you need to find a nonprofit to give the money to, and they, in turn, will give the money to the for-profit. So it took forever going through a variety of possibilities."

Building permits granted for Moody Nolan's Obama Presidential Center contribution in Chicago

2024-10-10T19:13:00-04:00

Building permits for Moody Nolan’s Programs & Athletics Center contribution to the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago have been granted by local planning officials, reports Urbanize Chicago. The project is to be realized at the south end of the 19-acre campus in Jackson Park by the end of 2025, an improvement from the firm's previously stated 2026 opening. Its 45,000-square-foot program includes gyms, an NBA regulation-sized basketball court, and several wellness-oriented community spaces.

SOM to redesign upper floors of Hancock Center in Chicago

2024-10-02T17:29:00-04:00

One of the most significant skyscraper designs in SOM’s portfolio, the John Hancock Center (now known as 875 N. Michigan Avenue) in Chicago, will be receiving an upgrade to its upper-level Signature Room, according to 360 Chicago, the group that bought the former restaurant space on the 95th and 96th floors earlier this year.

The managing director of 360 Chicago told the Chicago Sun-Times they were still in the "early stages" of planning for the project. She added: "One of the strengths of bringing on a firm like SOM is that they’re very focused on research and strategy as well. e’re deep in the planning process with them, and challenging both them and us what the best use of the space can be."

Frank Lloyd Wright's first private commission on the market for $1.98 million in Illinois

2024-09-17T17:30:00-04:00

Frank Lloyd Wright’s first independent commission in River Forest, Illinois has hit the local real estate market for just under $2 million. The historic 1894 Winslow House was the young architect’s first after leaving Adler & Sullivan’s Chicago office, reports Blair Kamin.

Christie’s International listed the 5,000-square-foot/five-bedroom property, which was restored recently for $1.3 million. Wright credits the nascent underpinnings of the Prairie Style to its development in several sources including his biography per Crain’s. The National Register of Historic Places added the landmark to its database in 1970.

Wright’s early Warren Hickox House in nearby Kankakee, Illinois also hit the market in March after being held in private hands for 48 years.

Chicago pushes O'Hare Airport redevelopment completion target to 2034

2024-09-11T19:26:00-04:00

The official timeline of the planned $8.5 billion Chicago O’Hare Aiport expansion has been moved to 2034, according to Crain’s. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is working with Ross Barney Architects, Arup, and Juan Gabriel Moreno Architects (JGMA) to complete its first 19-gate Satellite Concourse 1 phase, which will be completed in 2028. Phase 2 will follow four years later (two years more than was previously scheduled). The $300 million renovation of Terminal 3, which broke ground in April, is expected to be complete by 2032.

Studio Gang revitalizes Pavilion structure at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo

2024-08-29T17:43:00-04:00

Studio Gang’s restoration of the popular Pavilion structure at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago is now complete. The photogenic gathering space located along the Zoo’s Nature Boardwalk was completed in 2010 and recently received a makeover replete with new fiberglass dome components and a revitalized wooden lattice-like support structure.

Studio Gang is currently hiring for a Licensed Interior Designer on Archinect Jobs and was in the running for the public vote for the AIA Chicago's 2024 Lerch Bates People's Choice Awards contest, the winners for which are expected to be announced on September 5th.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Studio Gang (@studiogang)

Whither 400 Lake Shore Drive? Chicago critic Edward Keegan asks for a firm answer

2024-08-15T13:05:00-04:00

Chicago’s most infamous vacant site of the 21st century is finally getting a tower. But will we be getting the architect’s best vision — or just half of a good design? A look at some recent history of large projects in the city offers some guidance, and reason for concern. I have no reason to doubt Related’s stated intention to build both towers, but if history is a guide, it’s more likely than not that the single tower will never see its sibling.

The Windy City's newest architecture critic, Edward Keegan, explains 400 Lake Shore Drive (designed by SOM's Chicago office with David Childs) against five other similar projects that never saw the original vision of their architects fully realized. He says a potential void might become a permanent edifice where once Santiago Calatrava endeavored to build his 2,000-foot Spire tower if Related Midwest is not kept to task by city officials and an active group of "concerned citizens."

"We need a planning mechanism that pays more attention to the interim state of larger projects without becoming too enamored with the complete design," he writes further for the Tribune's newly established architecture column. "Because city building is always a work in progress, as a number of orphan towers can attest."

The first half of the project broke ground in June and expects to be ready for its initial tenants to move in by the fall of 2027.

Northwestern University’s Ryan Field stadium breaks ground

2024-08-07T18:02:00-04:00

Northwestern University’s athletics tradition is getting a new crown jewel thanks to HNTB and Perkins&Will’s design for the new Ryan Field Redevelopment project. Work on the venue, which promises to be "most accessible in college football," commenced with a groundbreaking ceremony early last month in Evanston, Illinois, and will yield a total of 35,000 seats plus outdoor plaza areas after an investment of $800 million. Existing ADA requirements will be "doubled," according to HNTB's project page.

Turner Construction is spearheading its construction and expects the stadium to be ready in time for the start of the 2026 season. Thornton Tomasetti is providing structural design and construction engineering services for the redevelopment, which is targeting a LEED Gold certification.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by HNTBCorp (@hntbcorp)

Chicago preservationists just saved two landmark early skyscrapers from the GSA wrecking ball

2024-08-05T20:13:00-04:00

The Chicago Tribune is reporting on the successful effort by Windy City preservationists to save the landmarked vacant Century and Consumers buildings, the “last vestiges of the Chicago School of Architecture” after two years of fighting. Their owners, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), have decided in favor of an adaptive reuse scheme that will save them from the wrecking ball, albeit with a list of 15 restrictions pertaining to any future redevelopment. These include limitations on residential development.

"We’re hoping the remaining $45 million of this demolition earmark could be invested in the terra cotta and the exterior cladding and roof structures, along with the windows," Preservation Chicago’s executive director Ward Miller told the outlet. "I think at a minimum, the GSA and federal government could help with restoring some of these features of the exterior that have languished for so long, almost 20 years, under their ownership."

The buildings were completed...

What’s holding up mass timber's ascent in Chicago?

2024-07-30T08:00:00-04:00

The Tribune recently asked why mass timber construction is so lagging in Chicago while nearby Milwaukee and other cities in the Pacific Northwest and Europe are making strides to embrace the movement by altering their building codes and fire safety regulations.

Even after an amenable update to its citywide code in 2020, forces such as the collective memory of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire are one such impediment to the development of new wooden designs. A two-year-old residential project from Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture — a rare approved proposal over five stories — appears to have stalled. The DOB says it considers additional exceptions to the limit "on a case-by-case basis," but there remains an impression it is too late to the table, leaving the city known for its architectural innovations disappointingly out of the vanguard while a new race to the top unfolds.

RIOS, Field Operations behind proposed $7B redevelopment of Chicago's United Center area

2024-07-23T19:39:00-04:00

The bigger picture of RIOS’s massive The 1901 Project proposal on Chicago’s West Side came into focus today as part of a planned $7 billion redevelopment of areas surrounding the United Center.

The 55-acre site is set to be transformed into a mix of retail, entertainment, and residential spaces over a period of ten years in a new privately funded venture that will join RIOS with Field Operations beginning in the spring of 2025.

The first phase of construction, which kicks off next year at what is now a surface parking area adjacent to the arena, will deliver a 6,000-seat music venue, a 10-acre elevated public park, new parking facilities, and a mix of retail and hospitality aimed at encouraging local businesses with a hefty sense of increased pedestrianism included.

Proposed The 1901 Project redevelopment. Image courtesy RIOS

Current situation. Image courtesy RIOS

Once that phase is complete, the plan's housing component will come into focus. The architects say this will include a mi...

Gensler study proposes reimagined North Michigan Avenue in Chicago

2024-07-17T11:43:00-04:00

The main artery along Chicago’s iconic Lakefront area — North Michigan Avenue — is the subject of a new proposal from Gensler that would revitalize a major segment of the street into a major hub of pedestrianization, retail, and hospitality.

The proposal targets a stretch between Chicago Avenue and Oak Street Beach for a series of interventions and innovations that will remake it into the Avenue's northern 'anchor' opposing the existing Chicago Architecture Center, Apple Store, Wrigley Building, and the recently renovated Tribune Tower at its southern edge.

Image courtesy Gensler

Local developers Bob Wislow and Camille Julmy are said to have worked with Gensler’s team to produce a study for the redevelopment, which puts Chicago squarely on par with many other global high streets in an attempt to recover the staggering economic losses created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Image courtesy Gensler

"This study demonstrates that design truly has the power to transform experience in our cities,...

Featured architecture jobs in Chicago and Champaign, Illinois

2024-07-04T10:00:00-04:00

The latest edition of our curated job highlights from Archinect Jobs features four employers in Chicago and one university in Champaign, Illinois, looking to expand with new, attractive career opportunities.

To learn more about the various positions firms are offering, make sure to check out Archinect's Guide to Job Titles series. Also, consult our Archinect Tips collection for helpful guidance on how to get that next job.

Central Park Tower by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. Photo: Cody Boone courtesy SERHANT Studios

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture seeks an Architect and an Interior Architect and Designer

Architect (3-7 Years of Experience) details: "The ideal candidate will have a strong creative design portfolio along with strong verbal and written communication skills. The individuals that we are seeking should be self-motivated and team players. Sustainable/High-Performance project experience is a plus."

Interior Architect and Designer details: "Applicants shoul...

SOM's 400 Lake Shore Drive officially breaks ground in Chicago

2024-06-18T15:25:00-04:00

Yesterday marked the official groundbreaking ceremony for Developer Related Midwest’s Chicago Spire replacement designed by the Chicago Office of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM) with David Childs. What will become a pair of new architectural centerpieces for the Lakefront and Streeterville neighborhood are set to be realized at 857 and 765 feet each, with the first tower ready to move in the first of its 635 new residents by the third quarter of 2027.

“As we break ground today, we do so with immense optimism for the future of Chicago […] 400 Lake Shore is a testament to the enduring strength of our great city and I am confident it will inspire future generations to continue building and dreaming big," Related Midwest's Curt Bailey said at the ceremony. Its progress follows last week's topping out of the TWBTA-designed Obama Presidential Center museum building on the South Side. Demolition work on the Thompson Center to make way for Google's new $280 million takeover has also be...

Obama Presidential Center tops out in Chicago

2024-06-12T13:48:00-04:00

Construction on the forthcoming Obama Presidential Center’s main museum building has topped out in Chicago. A ceremony held yesterday, June 11th, with the 44th President in attendance celebrated the progress on the TWBTA-led project as it reached its culmination at 225 feet height just two years before its expected completion in the spring of 2026.

Once it is completed, the new landmark of the city’s South Side will anchor a 19.3-acre campus with a landscape design from Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. Another key component, Moody Nolan’s athletics center building, is also advancing towards a 2026 completion after breaking ground in March. May Lin’s engaging water garden installation will complete the program. You can see more photos from yesterday's important milestone below.

Olson Kundig expands into Midwest with new Chicago office

2024-06-11T16:42:00-04:00

Olson Kundig has expanded into the Midwest market with a new Chicago location that bridges its already bi-coastal New York and Seattle operations after 57 years in the industry. The firm will now work out of a new space in the city's Fulton Market there and says their move will precipitate a new central hub for global business while supporting a growing body of work locally that began twenty years ago.

"Chicago is recognized around the world for its trailblazing design. For over 150 years, Chicago architects have carved out a reputation for big thinking and an ability to reimagine our built world,” founder Tom Kundig said in a press announcement. “We are honored to join this incredible community of designers, makers, and creatives.”

Previously on Archinect: Olson Kundig is expanding to New York City after six decades in Seattle

His colleague Kirsten Ring Murray added: “We have always worked globally, and across building types. Expanding to Chicago, a vibrant city with a historic cu...

Pelli Clarke & Partners completes 57-story Salesforce Tower in Chicago

2024-05-30T17:53:00-04:00

Pelli Clarke & Partners has completed work on their new Salesforce Tower project at Chicago's Wolf Point mixed-use development. The 852-foot tower is the final piece of the 15-year puzzle that transforms a four-acre portion of waterfront between the Riverwalk and Merchandise Mart and boasts a total of 1.2 million square feet of offices for the technology giant and leading national law firm Kirkland & Ellis.

Photo by Jason O'Rear

"It has been a privilege to shape the transformation of Wolf Point and contribute to the design of Chicago’s iconic skyline for nearly 15 years," Partner Darin Cook said of their second commercial project for the Windy City. "We have long been inspired by Chicago’s rich architectural tradition and history of innovation. In creating Salesforce Tower, we designed a tower that reaches boldly skyward, is imbued with lightness, and takes a sculptural form."

Photo by Jason O'Rear

Featuring an internal floor plate configuration that enables a max...

New Chicago O’Hare satellite concourse design by SOM-led team unveiled

2024-05-29T17:30:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill has announced plans for a new satellite concourse at Chicago O’Hare International Airport along with Ross Barney Architects, Juan Gabriel Moreno Architects, and Arup.

What will become the first new building in the airport’s largest expansion in 68 years features improved passenger experiences to compete with other modern airport designs. The firm won the commission for two new terminal structures at O’Hare, the country’s fourth-busiest airport, in 2019 and is expected to follow with the 1.3 million-square-foot total addition’s second half by 2030.

Image: courtesy of SOM and Norviska

"We designed the new satellite concourse to create a frictionless experience for travelers, on par with the best airports in the world," said SOM Design Partner Scott Duncan. "The gate lounges feature column-free expanses for easy wayfinding, high ceilings to improve views and air circulation, and a daylighting strategy to help align the body's natural rhythms — all to make ...

Riken Yamamoto receives the 2024 Pritzker Prize in Chicago

2024-05-20T15:16:00-04:00

A celebration of Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto as the 53rd official Pritzker Prize laureate was held in Chicago over the weekend. Yamamoto was joined by past winners Francis Kéré (2022) and Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal (2021) on stage at the Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture for a special presentation of his life and work, which began in Beijing in 1945 and has seen designs realized in Japan, Switzerland, China, and the Republic of Korea, through a lens considering 'The Architect as a Catalyst for Change.'

Yamamoto is the ninth Japanese winner of the Pritzker Prize, after his countrymen Arata Isozaki (2019), Shigeru Ban (2014), Toyo Ito (2013), Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (2010), Tadao Ando (1995), Fumihiko Maki (1991), and Kenzō Tange (1987). He said during the ceremony that he felt pride at being a "member of the Pritzker family." His win follows David Chipperfield, who spoke from the Ancient Agora in Athens last year.

The full remarks fro...

Dirk Lohan proposes domed Soldier Field renovation as Bears new stadium talks take off

2024-05-06T13:01:00-04:00

A proposed redesign of Chicago’s soon-to-close Soldier Field stadium from architect Dirk Lohan gained some press recently after the Bears NFL franchise debuted Manica Architecture’s $4.7 billion design for its new lakefront home. Lohan is the architect of its modern 2003 renovation (in association with Wood & Zapata), a project that ultimately cost Soldier Field its landmark status. He says the design alternative is at once cheaper and more sustainable than the current proposal that’s been targeted by critics but still backed by team owners and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Image: Lohan Architecture via LinkedIn

The proposed plan calls for a lightweight domed roof to be constructed over the structure, with 20,000 new seats added underneath and upheld by cables connecting to four exterior columns. Lohan, who also designed the master plan for the surrounding Museum Campus, says it "remains] true to the values reflected in the Burnham and Bennett Plans and the Chicago Lakefront Ordinan...

Chicago's Thompson Center begins demolition ahead of $280 million Google takeover

2024-05-03T17:12:00-04:00

NBC Chicago is reporting on the start of planned demolition work for the Thompson Center in advance of a $280 million makeover that will turn the famed Helmut Jahn-designed building into a new office space for Google for 2026. Work will cover the exterior glass curtain facade and interior atrium. The 39-year-old former state office building had become a $17 million-a-year liability for Governor JB Pritzker before the property was offloaded for $105 million in July of 2022.

“These types of improvements take several years to complete; we’re excited about what this project symbolizes for the greater Chicago community and will share more about our plans in the future,” Karen Sauder, Google's Chicago Site Lead, said in a December update.

Jean Dubuffet's 29-foot 'Monument with Standing Beast' sculpture is also being evacuated to the Art Institute of Chicago.

Lee Bey reviews Chicago Bears' revised new lakefront stadium plans

2024-04-25T19:00:00-04:00

However, check out the stadium renderings accompanying this story. Look at how big that thing is. The size almost makes the Museum Campus buildings look like neo-classical LEGO blocks in comparison. Judging from the renderings, the stadium looks pretty good as far as professional sports facilities go. It’s the right building but the wrong spot.

Bey’s effective teardown includes a slideshow of Manica Architecture’s new renderings for the reported $2 billion stadium, which replaces a scrapped plan to relocate the team to suburban Arlington Heights from its hallowed Soldier Field home.

Bey said Mayor Brandon Johnson's team "stood by as a private entity took the lead and told how the public’s lakefront would be redeveloped." The stadium is expected to be built on a three-year timeline, with the completed design made ready in time to kick off the 2028 season.

The White Sox are also mulling an upgrade closer to the South Loop that could cost upwards of $9 billion.

Chicago O’Hare $300 million airport terminal renovation breaks ground

2024-04-25T12:03:00-04:00

Construction has begun on a $300 million renovation of Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 3. The upgrades are expected to take three years and will overhaul the terminal’s infrastructure from security checkpoints to baggage claim, as well as adding amenities and improving accessibility.

Named ElevateT3, the project will include the reconfiguration of two TSA checkpoints into a single screening area, an expanded passenger corridor between concourses K and L, and the development of approximately 10,000 square feet of new concessions and amenity spaces. The terminal’s interior and exterior are also to be renovated to improve overall energy efficiency.

Previously on Archinect: FAA gives the final go-ahead to multibillion-dollar Chicago O'Hare expansion. Image render courtesy of Studio ORD.

Construction of the new terminal is expected to be completed by the summer of 2027 and will take a phased approach to allow continuous operations throughout Terminal 3 during construction....

Tribune Tower voted Chicago’s best building in 2024

2024-04-11T12:53:00-04:00

Chicago’s Tribune Tower has been voted the best building in the city by readers of Urbanize Chicago. Thousands of votes were cast in the Urbanize Chicago People’s Choice Best Building 2024, with the Tribune Tower seeing off competition from the second-place Wrigley Building.

Designed by Howells and Hood and completed in 1925, the iconic Gothic Revival building was the result of an international design competition held by the Chicago Tribune newspaper. The winning design drew inspiration from the medieval Gothic cathedrals of Europe, reinterpreting their features for a modern skyscraper.

The tower rises to a height of 462 feet, culminating in a series of flying buttresses that crown its top. The building's façade is adorned with sculptural details and stone carvings that evoke the craftsmanship of Gothic architecture.

Related on Archinect: 16 designers to display new "Tribune Tower" models at the 2nd Chicago Architecture Biennial. Image: Wikipedia

A notable feature of the tower is it...

Kimberly Dowdell hits back at anti-DEI push in business circles and academia

2024-03-25T14:21:00-04:00

The new AIA President and Principal in HOK’s Chicago office, Kimberly Dowdell, talked with Crain’s recently, stating diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts must be sustained in the face of the latest anti-DEI pushback parroted by Elon Musk and other business leaders that contributed to the resignation of Harvard University President Claudine Gay and other rollbacks on Wall Street and in corporate America.

"It's really disturbing how quickly the pendulum is shifting back toward a less inclusive and diverse society," she says, referring to different policymakers who are beginning to codify their resistance in conservative states like Florida and Texas.

Revisit our 2019 Archinect Sessions interview with Kimberly Dowdell, then President of the National Organization of Minority Architects

Of her company’s ethos she says, "[It’s] about diversity and its multiple forms in terms of its people but also the work and the kinds of work that we do," something that has underpinned its success...

Chicago Bears reverse suburban stadium plans, will remain at Soldier Field site under latest proposal

2024-03-13T11:49:00-04:00

On Monday morning, several Chicago news outlets reported that the Bears want to form a public-private partnership with the park district to build a stadium and renovate part of Chicago’s lakefront museum campus to add more public space. That would presumably include knocking down Soldier Field, which has the smallest seating capacity in the NFL, despite Chicago being the third-largest market.

The team still owns a 326-acre land plot in suburban Arlington Heights, where they first proposed a new Manica-led retractable roof design in March of 2022.

For now, the Bears' new Soldier Field proposal is expected to cost $2 billion. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said it was "a testament to Chicago’s economic vitality."

NBC Chicago reported that 80% of Chicagoans included in a recent survey would prefer an enclosed stadium at the Museum Campus, which would turn Soldier Field into a park space while retaining signature architectural elements such as its Doric colonnades.

Chicago's White Sox MLB franchise is also in the process of seeking public approvals for a new ballpark away from their traditional home on the Southside that would require a $9 billion investment.

Obama Presidential Center pushes opening to 2026, Moody Nolan's athletics center to break ground this month

2024-03-11T12:04:00-04:00

The Moody Nolan-designed Obama Presidential Center Programs & Athletics Center project in Chicago’s Jackson Park has been scheduled to break ground later this month.

Project updates were reported late last week by the Chicago Sun-Times on the occasion of former President Obama's visit to McCormick Place to see a half-scale mockup of the 88-foot "Power of Words" video installation, the largest of 50 that will grace the Obama Presidential Center when it opens at a recently revised date in 2026.

The new opening date was provided by Obama Presidential Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett in an update to local reporters. The Center is slated to include three other buildings: the main museum tower from TWBTA, a new Chicago Public Library branch, and a forum/auditorium space with an indoor winter garden, completed by Maya Lin's water garden design and a 19.3-acre landscaped design by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.

Rendering of the upcoming Obama Presidential Center Athletics Center. Image ...

Archinect - News

Google updates Thompson Center renderings before first full year of construction

One of Helmut Jahn's final designs distinguishes itself on the Chicago skyline

Chicago Architecture Biennial picks UIC School of Architecture director Florencia Rodriguez to lead CAB 6, 'Shift'

Blair Kamin: ‘Writer underwriting writer’

Building permits granted for Moody Nolan's Obama Presidential Center contribution in Chicago

SOM to redesign upper floors of Hancock Center in Chicago

Frank Lloyd Wright's first private commission on the market for $1.98 million in Illinois

Chicago pushes O'Hare Airport redevelopment completion target to 2034

Studio Gang revitalizes Pavilion structure at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo

Whither 400 Lake Shore Drive? Chicago critic Edward Keegan asks for a firm answer

Northwestern University’s Ryan Field stadium breaks ground

Chicago preservationists just saved two landmark early skyscrapers from the GSA wrecking ball

What’s holding up mass timber's ascent in Chicago?

RIOS, Field Operations behind proposed $7B redevelopment of Chicago's United Center area

Gensler study proposes reimagined North Michigan Avenue in Chicago

Featured architecture jobs in Chicago and Champaign, Illinois

SOM's 400 Lake Shore Drive officially breaks ground in Chicago

Obama Presidential Center tops out in Chicago

Olson Kundig expands into Midwest with new Chicago office

Pelli Clarke & Partners completes 57-story Salesforce Tower in Chicago

New Chicago O’Hare satellite concourse design by SOM-led team unveiled

Riken Yamamoto​ receives the 2024 Pritzker Prize in Chicago

Dirk Lohan proposes domed Soldier Field renovation as Bears new stadium talks take off

Chicago's Thompson Center begins demolition ahead of $280 million Google takeover

Lee Bey reviews Chicago Bears' revised new lakefront stadium plans

Chicago O’Hare $300 million airport terminal renovation breaks ground

Tribune Tower voted Chicago’s best building in 2024

Kimberly Dowdell hits back at anti-DEI push in business circles and academia

Chicago Bears reverse suburban stadium plans, will remain at Soldier Field site under latest proposal

Obama Presidential Center pushes opening to 2026, Moody Nolan's athletics center to break ground this month

Riken Yamamoto receives the 2024 Pritzker Prize in Chicago