Archinect - News

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects to deliver $122M Detroit Music Hall expansion

2023-10-24T12:26:00-04:00

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA) has been attached to a major new expansion of the historic Detroit Music Hall, the firm announced on Monday. The project aims to connect an important part of downtown to a burgeoning economic revitalization while providing Detroiters with a “canvas to express the energy and creativity for which the city is globally recognized.”

At seven stories and a total of 100,000 square feet, the new Detroit Music Hall Center will sit next to the existing 95-year-old Wilson Theater and offers the public a 1,900-seat main concert hall, 200-seat recital hall, offices, rooftop restaurant, music academy educational component, and a 4,000-square-foot activated public outdoor area.

In terms of its design, the building utilizes an LED-lit perforated metal rain screen facade to cast itself and its twin as the vibrant cultural anchors for new development in the neighborhood. The duality between industrial daytime activities and the city’s nightlife scene is f...

Two years ahead of schedule, Diamond Schmitt/TWBTA's David Geffen Hall revamp is ready to debut at Lincoln Center

2022-09-27T18:23:00-04:00

A revamp inside one of America’s most important cultural venues is ready to debut two years ahead of schedule (and reportedly on budget) after the project team behind Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall in Manhattan announced an October 8th public opening date on Tuesday.

NYC's redesigned new "cultural living room" is the product of a collaboration between cultural sector heavyweights Diamond Schmitt Architects and Tod Williams Billie Tsien (TWBTA), noted acoustician Paul Scarbrough of Akustiks, and theater design specialist Joshua Dachs of Fisher Dachs Associates.

The project's scope includes an acoustical and seating arrangement overhaul of the New York Philharmonic's main Wu Tsai Theater performance space, the creation of a new restaurant and 1,680-square-foot Welcome Center, new multipurpose Sidewalk Studios, and the reconfiguration of public spaces around the building that was originally designed by Max Abramovitz in 1962.

Video courtesy of Lincoln Center for the Performing A...

Obama Presidential Center Director, Louise Bernard, discusses the site's progress

2022-06-22T11:51:00-04:00

The construction will take place holistically at once. Except for our athletic facility, whose timeline is little bit later. And there is all the landscaping work that will commence once the construction is further along. The vision of what the center will be is firmly understood. The drawings are complete and ready to be executed upon. The concrete work will be the next phase. People will begin to see the construction coming out of the ground beginning in the summer.

Bernard told ARTnews she wants the 19-acre TWBTA-designed library and parks complex to “serve as an example” for other developments in the city. The Director also described the museum's four-floor gallery layout, which is topped by a "Sky Room" feature in addition to a 5,000-square-foot special exhibits gallery located on the building's lowest level. When discussing the space she shared, "we will delve into topics that we only touch upon in the core exhibit.”

The museum will also include a replica of the oval office, and core galleries consisting of mostly donated objects filtered through the focal point of the historic 2008 Presidential election, with the curatorial direction being “not just to be about him but about the people who made his presidency possible.”

Tod Williams and Billie Tsien on their Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park refresh

2022-06-09T13:11:00-04:00

Garden officials said Fred Meijer insisted on surpassing accessibility standards, as demonstrated by a miniature version of Nina Akamu’s 1999 bronze 'The American Horse' that allows the visually impaired to feel the sculpture. Mr. Williams and Ms. Tsien designed the landscape without significant grade changes, eliminating the need for landings and handrails, as well as stairs or steep ramps between buildings. The subtle slopes allow every visitor to use the same paths for the same experience.

As part of the Times’ new dedicated series for Milan Design Week, Matt Shaw previewed Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA)’s renovation of the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan ahead of its opening on July 1st.

The preview noted the project's deliberate focus on improved accessibility and the incorporation of local materials, as well as the introduction of new sculptural elements, and an interior inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.

The level of personal involvement for both architects was hand-designed wall tapestries and rugs scattered throughout the new welcome center's visitor and administrative areas. It is the extension of a vision first initiated by the West Michigan Horticultural Society in the early 1980s. As Tsien describes it, the 69,000-square-foot result “is a place both of the spirit and for people to gather."

Billie Tsien to receive honorary doctorate at the Boston Architectural College's 2022 graduation ceremony

2022-05-18T18:43:00-04:00

Architect, educator, and Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners co-founder Billie Tsien is set to receive an Honorary Doctorate and deliver the commencement speech at the Boston Architectural College’s (BAC) graduation ceremony on Friday, May 27th.

“It is an immense privilege to have Billie Tsien deliver the BAC’s commencement address to our graduating class in-person this year,” said Boston Architectural College President Mahesh Daas. “Her commitment to designing deeper and slower existential experiences grounded in an unmistakable sense of service, materiality and profound optimism complements the BAC’s own commitment to furthering social justice, inclusion, and diversifying design education.”

Previously on Archinect Sessions: "Starts with me, ends with us": A conversation with Tod Williams and Billie Tsien on Archinect Sessions Episode #22

This is the latest addition to Tsien’s long list of accolades, including the National Medal of the Arts from President Obama, the Tho...

Billie Tsien on New York City, student loans, and hating Hudson Yards

2021-10-26T14:26:00-04:00

I would like to remove Hudson Yards. I don’t even know what I would replace it with. I just feel really angry because it’s a part of the city that turns its back to the city. It’s not even the buildings, or size of the buildings — which are humongous — that bother me. It’s that back-turning. I actually have refused to enter it, except when I was walking on the High Line […] it pretends to be a space for everybody when it is not.

Tsien, who broke ground last month on the Obama Presidential Library in Chicago, recently began a four-year term as Chair of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which will afford her a direct line to government officials on a number of different topics involving the design community.

"The biggest problem and opportunity facing the profession of architecture is diversity," she told Curbed when asked about the challenges facing the industry today. "And one of the causes is expensive graduate school with not necessarily any payoff in the end. Leaving school $200,000 in debt, and the prospect of a job that might pay $65,000 a year, is daunting to anybody."

Watch Barack Obama break ground on the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago

2021-09-29T18:29:00-04:00

On Tuesday, Barack Obama broke ground on his highly anticipated presidential center on the South Side of Chicago.

In an hour-long ceremony at the 19-acre site in Jackson Park, Obama, joined by his wife and former First Lady, Michelle Obama, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, shared their remarks celebrating the long-awaited project before scooping up dirt with commemorative shovels.

“This day has been a long time coming,” said Mr. Obama. “We had originally hoped to hold a bigger, festive event, but the pandemic had other plans, so we’re keeping this small for now.”

Departing from similar projects recognizing former presidents, the center has been envisioned to host lectures, trainings, cultural events, concerts, and conversations, instead of acting as a presidential library.

“We want this center to be more than a static museum or a source of archival research,” the former president continued. “It won’t just be a collection of campaign memorabilia o...

Another Tod Williams Billie Tsien building is being demolished to make way for a BIG project in Baltimore

2021-09-25T16:37:00-04:00

Two big name architecture firms are changing places on the campus of Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.

The university has commenced demolition of its Tod Williams and Billie Tsien-designed Mattin Center that was originally completed on its Homewood campus in 2001.

The demolition will make way for a new $250 million student center designed by BIG with help of Rockwell Group and academic design specialist Shepley Bulfinch.

The erstwhile center was designed as a place to “nurture the creative arts in a school where the primary focus has always been science and engineering.”

Featuring a dance studio, black box theater, art studios and a café, the center’s design incorporated clerestory windows focused on producing as much natural light and clear sightlines as possible in order to create a sense of “visual community” amongst the student users.

“I loved walking in and disconnecting from the academic rigor to create something artistic with a group of people, and the building definit...

The Obama Presidential Center is finally set to break ground on Tuesday

2021-09-24T19:42:00-04:00

A major milestone in the construction of one of Chicago’s most anticipated new developments is officially set, according to a late afternoon announcement from the Obama Foundation.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that an official groundbreaking ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center will be taking place on Tuesday.

The announcement comes on the heels of an August supreme court ruling that cleared the final hurdle to groundbreaking following a last-minute emergency motion to halt construction based on potential damages to the neighboring park designed by Frederick Law Olmstead.

We've got big news!

Our virtual groundbreaking festivities for the Obama Presidential Center will take place on Monday, Sept. 27 and Tuesday, Sept. 28.

Watch a special message from @BarackObama and @MichelleObama now. pic.twitter.com/yJ6M4DLL2A
— The Obama Foundation (@ObamaFoundation) September 24, 2021

The Billie Tsien and Tod Williams-designed center completed a comprehensive federal review process ear...

Obama Presidential Center construction continues after Supreme Court ruling

2021-08-23T12:52:00-04:00

Construction of the Obama Presidential Center is set to continue at Chicago’s Jackson Park following a ruling by Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. The project, designed by Tod Williams & Billie Tsien Architects in collaboration with Interactive Design Architects (IDEA), was subjected to a legal challenge which argued that the project would negatively impact the park’s historic setting.

Opponents of the center filed an emergency motion asking for a writ of injunction to be issued to block any additional groundbreaking of the center. One of the applicants, a nonprofit organization called Protect Our Parks, opposed the project on its current site, arguing the scheme should be built “on Chicago’s South Side outside of a dedicated public park.” A U.S. District Court Judge previously dismissed a suit by the organization in 2019.

Image: Obama Foundation

The motion cited concerns over the cutting down of trees in Jackson Park which are critical to migratory birds, as well as noise ...

Renderings reveal a new design for David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center

2021-04-12T19:30:00-04:00

The newly released renderings show an innovative “single-room” concept for the theater with audience seating surrounding the stage, like a black box theater. Yet, despite the surround-seating, the overall capacity will be reduced by 500 (to a total of 2,200 seats). The design team includes Diamond Schmitt Architects and Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, acoustic consultant Akustiks, and theater design studio Fisher Dachs Associates.

Obama Presidential Center will break ground this year

2021-02-04T11:12:00-05:00

The Obama Foundation announced yesterday the conclusion of a four-year-long federal review process for the Obama Presidential Center (OPC), and intent to break ground on the Center in 2021.

The City of Chicago has already scheduled the start of pre-construction work due for April, which will include the relocation of utility lines on the site. Construction of the OPC will begin in the second half of the year, starting with preliminary roadwork, according to the Obama Foundation.

"Getting to this point wouldn’t have been possible without the folks in the community who have been a part of this process along the way," said President Obama in a video message. "Michelle and I want to thank you for making this project even better — a space for the community, built in partnership with the community. We know that by working together, we can unlock the South Side’s fullest potential — and help set up our city, our country, and our world for even better years still to come."

The estimated co...

Princeton University sues design and construction teams over delayed project

2019-12-26T14:25:00-05:00

Princeton University has filed a $10.7 million lawsuit against the design and construction firms responsible for the creation of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment complex at the school due to “extensive changes and delays” involved in the delivery of the project.

The Daily Princetonian reports that the Trustees of Princeton University are suing lead designers Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA) and sub-consultants Jacobs Architects/Engineers, Inc. and Jacobs Consultancy Inc. (referred to collectively as “Jacobs Entities” in the lawsuit) in order to recoup extra costs incurred due to the delays, alleging that the team “failed to perform their professional design responsibilities in accordance with the prevailing standard of care, resulting in unnecessary and excessive additional costs and expensive project delays.”

Princeton University Deputy Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss tells The Daily Princetonian, “The University seeks to recover addition[al] costs i...

Latest plan to revamp New York's Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center is unveiled

2019-12-05T13:00:00-05:00

A project team led by Diamond Schmitt Architects and Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects has been tapped to transform David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City, home of the New York Philharmonic.

According to a press release, the $550 million project aims to revitalize the performance hall into a venue that "will bring everyone closer to the music" while also allowing patrons to "feel closer to one another." The scheme doubles the size of the hall's lobby, creating a new welcome center while also adding "more places to meet, work, drink, and hang out." The facilities are set to include interior visualization walls designed to receive musical projections, including concert livestreams that will be made free to the public. The proposal would also reconfigure an exterior facade that will serve as a "canvas for artists to create site-specific works to bring the building alive."

Rendering of the proposed performance hall. Image courtesy of Lincoln Center.

The proposal is the...

Tod Williams & Billie Tsien named 2019 Praemium Imperiale architecture laureates

2019-09-17T14:33:00-04:00

Japan's preeminent art and architecture prize, the Praemium Imperiale, today announced the newest round of laureates with the award in the Architecture category going to Tod Williams and Billie Tsien this year.

Established in 1986, the New York-based practice Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects has gained international recognition through their thoughtful and materiality-focused approach towards mostly public and institutional projects, such as the American Folk Art Museum (R.I.P.), the Barnes Foundation, the LeFrak Center at Lakeside, and more recently, their competition-winning design for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

The American Folk Art Museum in New York City before it was demolished in 2014. Photo: Dan Nguyen/Flickr

"No matter the complexity or size of project," praises the Japan Art Association's laureates description for Williams and Tsien, "their values remain intact and their pursuit of leaving good marks on the earth and transcending expectations is unwaveri...

Judge dismisses lawsuit against planned Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park

2019-06-11T18:48:00-04:00

In a surprising move, a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the city of Chicago was within its authority when it approved the Obama Foundation’s plan to build the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. After listening to nearly an hour of arguments on both sides, U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey said construction of the sprawling Obama center campus can begin and dismissed the lawsuit filed by environmentalists that aimed to halt it.

Designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, the planned Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park has faced strong opposition from the start and was barred from commencing construction due to the pending lawsuit brought forward by the group, Protect Our Parks.

"Even though this might be an important case, it’s not a difficult case," said U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey. "The park should have … be considered for what it is — a park and not a nature preserve."

Image courtesy of Obama Foundation

Obama Foundation CEO David Simas commented on the ruling in a statement: "We are thrilled with the City’s victory and grateful to all of those in Chicago and beyond who have believed in this project and made their voices heard every step of the way. Our vision for the Obama Presidential Center has always been one where the location reinforces the project’s core aims: a celebration of history, a place of connection and engagement for the public, and an investment in commun...

Six years since #FolkMoMA, the state of folk art at MoMA

2019-06-07T13:50:00-04:00

What I’ll miss during the Museum of Modern Art’s four-month public shutdown is something I’ve already been missing for five years and will probably continue to miss when the expanded museum reopens in October. I’m talking about the presence on West 53rd Street of the American Folk Art Museum, which was physically demolished in 2014, and whose site the expanded MoMA absorbs, but whose spirit lives on as a restless ghost in the corporate machine that MoMA is.

Holland Cotter, NYT co-chief art critic, on the state of art apart from the usual household names at MoMA since the TWBTA-designed American Folk Art Museum building next door was demolished in 2014, as well as looking ahead to the reopening of the expanded MoMA this fall.

"I would suggest that we, and MoMA, don’t need any more Rauschenbergs, or Richters, or Serras, or Twomblys," writes Cotter. "What we do need is 'many others.' And some of those Others were, for 13 years, to be found in the Folk Art Museum next door. Maybe MoMA can now be persuaded to acknowledge its spirit, and their genius, in its expanded home."

MoMA's temporary closure provides a moment of self-reflection

2019-02-06T19:28:00-05:00

As the Museum of Modern Art begins the final stage of its $400 million overhaul, it will close for four months to reconfigure its galleries, rehang the entire collection and rethink the way that the story of modern and contemporary art is presented to the public. The Picassos and van Goghs will still be there, but the 40,000 square feet of additional space will allow MoMA to focus new attention on works by women, Latinos, Asians, African-Americans and other overlooked artists...

Over the span of its 89 year history, The Museum of Modern Art has been the subject of both praise and disappointment among cultural elites. In particular, its Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed plan to expand into the adjacent American Folk Art Museum, by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, was the subject of sharp criticism when it was announced only a few short years ago.

Rendering of new Museum of Modern Art Facade. Credit: Diller + Scofidio Architects.

But as that project draws closer to its opening day by the end of this year, the museum has decided to use the months of its temporary closure (between June 15th and Oct. 21st) as an opportunity to reconsider how it exhibits its world-famous collection. This not only means a reassessment of the segregation of media, but also that of racial and sexual representation.

“A new generation of curators is discovering the richness of what is in our collection, and there is great work being made around the world that we need to pay atte...

TWBTA's Hood Museum of Art makeover scheduled to open in January 2019

2018-06-27T15:10:00-04:00

Students—as both learners and curators—are leading the way at Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum of Art, which is due to reopen on 26 January 2019 after a closure of nearly three years for an expansion and revamp by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. The $50m project expands the museum’s space by 50% to over 62,000 sq ft, adds six new galleries and renovates the museum’s original 1985 Charles Moore building (which was “not healthy” [...] revealing rust and mould in the renovation process).

Previously on Archinect: "It’s almost as if they were getting revenge for what MoMA did to their Folk Art Museum" — TWBTA take on Charles Moore's Hood Museum

Obama Center parking garage proposal: community groups offer feedback after latest design revisions

2017-12-28T14:15:00-05:00

The Obama Center design team has been reworking plans for a proposed controversial garage on a portion of the historic Midway Plaisance, across the street from where the presidential complex is to be built in Jackson Park. [...] When I left off on this story in November, Tod Williams, one of the architects, said relocating the garage was under consideration, given the concerns of community groups for the historic publicly owned Midway property.

Curbed Chicago picks up the story where the Chicago Sun-Times left off and reports about some of the praise and criticism that was presented at a meeting the Obama Foundation had called on December 20 at its Hyde Park Headquarters. The hearing was led by the project's architects Tod Williams, Billie Tsien, Dina Griffin as well as the landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh.

Funding of Obama Presidential Center raises concerns

2017-08-24T09:00:00-04:00

Plans for the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park are being firmed up largely out of public view, and one watchdog group is sounding the alarm about the lack of transparency. Decisions on the design of the center, the park’s golf course and even whether to eliminate some roads in the park are being worked out by the Obama Foundation, City Hall and the Chicago Park District.

Designed by the New York-based firm Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, the Obama Presidential Center will consist of three buildings—a museum, a forum, and a library located near a lagoon that runs into Lake Michigan in Chicago's Jackson Park neighborhood. However, recently Jackson Park Watch has sent a letter to City Hall outlining their concerns about the lack of transparency throughout the planning process.

After many months, the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Department of Transportation have not yet put a price tag on the roadway and infrastructure changes tied to the Obama Center and the proposal to merge the Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses into a single championship-caliber course, which would involve closing Cornell Drive and Marquette Drive, building a pair of new underpasses, possibly an underground garage and improving the shoreline.

The past four community meetings in June and July have not provided the public with any details about proposed street c...

Obama's Presidential Center through the landscape architecture lens

2017-05-24T15:15:00-04:00

The most important question related to the Obama Presidential Center on Chicago’s South Side doesn’t have that much to do with its architecture. It is instead: What kind of landscape stewardship can a presidential museum and library offer? To be located in Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted’s Jackson Park, the project already has a heap of canonical landscape history to contend with. So can the Obama library make a great park greater?

"So this new landscape has the potential to improve upon the already very good. But for whom?," Zach Mortice asks in his piece for Landscape Architecture Magazine. "Will these grounds remain public and accessible for all South Siders and Chicagoans, free of charge?"

The Twitterverse Responds to Obama's Presidential Library

2017-05-08T18:34:00-04:00

During Obama's unveiling of plans for his upcoming Presidential Library and Center, the former POTUS revealed his young ambitions of being an architect. During yesterdays events, he proclaimed "I wanted to be an architect when I was a kid. Somehow, I took a wrong turn." Back in June, Obama chose architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien to design the foundation, but the community-organizer from Chicago has remained quite active in the planning process for his building, even sending the team back to the drawing boards after finding their initial design a little too quiet.

Blair Kamin, of the The Chicago Tribune, is as of yet, the only reporter to give his take on the plans. While he is hopeful that kinks will be worked out, he would like to see Obama's populist agenda for the center reflected more in the completed design. But, now that the plans have been released to the public, everyone gets to be a critic and responses to the design, concept, potential effects to the surrounding com...

Take a look at the first images of the design for the Obama Presidential Center by TWBTA

2017-05-03T18:55:00-04:00

As promised, initial designs for the Obama Presidential Center by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects were released today. The Center will be composed of three buildings—the Museum, the Forum, and the Library—that surround a rectangular plaza.

The four primary sides of the Museum, the tallest structure on the site, are hexagons, sloping out as they rise before tapering back in about a quarter of the way up the building. In the drawings, the Museum, as well as the other two buildings, appears to be clad in stone. The façades are punctured with a few narrow rectangular windows. On the south-western corner of the Museum, a chunk is cut out of the bottom half and the resulting vertical surfaces of the indentation are glazed. On the opposite corner, the top half is cut out, producing a balcony. A large entrance on the southern side leads out to the plaza via a ramp.

The Forum and the Library line the southern and eastern edges of the plaza. They will be single-story structures with terrac...

Obama said to reveal 3D model of Presidential Center on Wednesday

2017-05-02T13:26:00-04:00

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Obamas will finally reveal a conceptual model of the former president’s library and museum tomorrow. The Obamas are to release the three-dimensional model at a community meeting event at the South Shore Cultural Center, which also happens to be where the couple held their 1992 wedding reception. Expected to attend the event is Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, who also served as the president’s first White House Chief of Staff. Obama will host a roundtable discussion, giving an update on the center, followed by feedback from community leaders—a format that makes sense given that Obama got his start as a community organizer in Chicago and has long been a champion of civic engagement.

The Presidential Center, which is being designed by architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, has been estimated to cost anywhere from $500 million to $1.5 billion and will be located in Jackson Park, a choice that has been controversial. Some are worried that developme...

Obama reacts to Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects's first design for the Obama Presidential Library

2017-02-24T12:47:00-05:00

Interviewed by Paul Goldberger, the New York architecture critic who advised the Obama Foundation on the architect selection process for the library, Williams and Tsien revealed conceptual ideas for the project, said Obama critiqued an early plan of theirs as too quiet [...] "He said it was too unflashy," ArchDaily quoted Tsien as saying. "He looked at what we did and he said, 'I said you could be sort of quiet, but I think you're a little too quiet.'"

The Barack Obama Presidential Center may end up costing up to $1.5B

2017-02-23T12:24:00-05:00

At an estimated $1.5 billion, the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago may end up costing more than three times what the George W. Bush Museum cost, according to new reports. This is primarily due to the fact that the center will house not one institution but two—both a presidential library and a museum about the lives of the former president and his wife. Moreover, Obama avoided doing much fundraising while in office, making it all the more difficult to come up with the funds.

“It won’t be easy,” said Tod Williams of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, designers of the Center. “It’s not just about preserving the past. It’s about the future.”

Obama chooses Jackson Park as the site for his Presidential Center

2016-07-27T18:59:00-04:00

According to the Chicago Tribune, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have finally settled on a site for the Obama Presidential Center: historic Jackson Park. Adjacent to the University of Chicago, the park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. An official announcement is expected next week.

The 500 acre park is also near the Museum of Science and Industry, the lakefront, Lake Shore Drive and two Metra train stations. It borders the Woodlawn neighborhood, described by the Tribune as "beginning to gentrify", and Hyde Park.

According to the Tribune, the park is "less challenging" than the other contender, Washington Park. While both sites are in poorer neighborhoods outside of the city center – a first for a presidential library –, the Washington Park neighborhood is more economically depressed than Jackson Park. One third of the land in Washington Park is vacant.

Estimated to cost $500 million, the Presidential Center will be designed by Tod Williams a...

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects selected to design the Obama Presidential Center

2016-06-30T13:23:00-04:00

The Obama Foundation has selected Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners (TWBTA) to lead the design team for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, and Interactive Design Architects (IDEA) to be their partner as they begin this exciting project. TWBTA stood out in their commitment to explore the best ways of creating an innovative center for action that inspires communities and individuals to take on our biggest challenges.

The husband and wife team of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA) first started their practice back in 1986, with Paul Schulhof becoming the firm's third partner in 2013. The thirty person team is headquartered in New York.

"We believe that architecture is the coming together of art and use, and can bring a sense of grace to life," the architects state in the announcement. "The greatest buildings are places, which contribute to more than their particular task by elevating and improving the world.

"We are deeply moved by the mission of the Obama Foundation and the role the Center can play in empowering that mission. It is a joy, an honor, and a responsibility to create a place that reflects the optimism and integrity of the President and the First Lady."

TWBTA have designed a number of notable and highly-praised institutional projects in the past, including the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, the Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago, and the Center for the A...

DS+R vs. Tod Williams Billie Tsien?

2016-06-01T14:40:00-04:00

It is not the first time, though, that a design like this has been pitched for the university. However inadvertently, the DS+R design resembles another proposal for the campus—a draft project that was eventually revised. While the resemblance between two draft renderings is hardly consequential, this one comes as a surprise, given the nature of the projects and the history between the firms.

Raking only the choicest aesthetic muck, in this piece Kriston Capps wonders at the passing similarities between Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects' initial proposed design for the University of Chicago's David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts and Diller, Scofidio, and Renfro's recently unveiled plans for the Rubenstein Forum, before bringing up the destruction of TWBTA's Folk Art Museum Building, which was destroyed to make way for DS+R's MoMA expansion. As Capps writes, "The tortured history between these firms suggests that a resemblance is something that these firms would rather avoid."

The latest on TWBTA: