STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY THE BARACK OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY RESPONDENT INFORMATION PROJECT AUTHOR AND TEAM LEADER Rafi Segal, PhD, M.Sc, B.Arch PROJECT TEAM Jesse Catalano, M.Arch Candidate ‘16, BA Steve Chappell, M.Arch Candidate ‘15, BFA Chelsea Hyduk, LEED AP, M.Arch Candidate ‘15, BS Arch Stephanie Jones, M.Arch Candidate ‘15, BS Arch Harrison Ratcliff-Bush, M.Arch Candidate ‘16, BS Arch CONTACT Rafi Segal Architecture Urbanism LLC 880 Lawrenceville Road Princeton, NJ 08540 +1 609 430 4257 +1 609 357 8355 Mobile www.rafisegal.com [email protected] 2 3 STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY CONTENTS Project Proposal 07 Description of Stations: Station 01, Honolulu, HI 31 Station 02, New York City, NY 39 Station 03, Cambridge, MA 47 Station 04, Chicago, IL 55 Station 05, Washington D.C. 63 Team Commitment and Strategy 73 4 5 STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY THE PROPOSAL ONE LIBRARY, FIVE CITIES We propose Barack Obama’s Presidential Socially and urbanistically each station Library to be a series of structures, is situated in a site of interaction and stations of community programs and meeting, between an urban neighborhood activities, distributed among the places and the library’s host institution. Five cities that shaped Barack Obama’s legacy. participate in forming a single presidential Each station represents part of President library system both specific and particular Obama’s singular story, a chapter in his to the communities they serve while also political and intellectual development, but operating on the national scale as a single at the same time stands for a shared core cohesive institution. principle, a democratic ideal of our society. 6 7 8 THE U.S. PRESIDENTS’ LEGACY OFDEMOCRACY STATIONS 1789 George Washington 18TH & 19TH CENTURY =DISTRIBUTEDMODEL 18TH &19THCENTURY 1797 John Adams 1801 Thomas Jefferson 1809 James Madison 1817 James Monroe 1825 John Quincy Adams 1829 Andrew Jackson 1837 Martin Van Buren William Henry Harrison 1841 John Tyler 1845 James K. Polk 1849 Zachary Taylor 1850 Millard Fillmore 1853 Franklin Pierce 1857 James Buchanan 1861 Abraham Lincoln 1865 Andrew Johnson 1869 Ulysses S. Grant 1877 Rutherford B. Hays James A. Garfield 1881 Chester Arthur 1885 Grover Cleveland 1889 Benjamin Harrison 1893 Grover Cleveland 1897 William McKinley 1901 Theodore Roosevelt 1909 William Howard Taft 1913 Woodrow Wilson 1921 Warren G. Harding IS MORE THAN A LIBRARY 1923 Calvin Coolidge by the Barack Obama Foundation,longer bestserves objectives thenor described is structure,thecurrent presidential modelno building typology of a centralizedthe urban context.single Following 20th century as isolated objects presidential disconnectedlibraries have beenfrom mid-20thcenturytheinceptiondesignedtheirSince in 1929 Herbert Hoover 20TH CENTURY = CENTRALIZED MODEL =CENTRALIZED 20TH CENTURY 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt 1945 Harry S. Truman COMBINE MODELS 1953 Dwight D. Eisenhower RELATING TO PAST TRADITIONS OFBUILDINGLEGACY TRADITIONS PAST RELATING TO 1961 John F. Kennedy 1963 Lyndon B. Johnson 1969 Richard Nixon 1974 Gerald Ford 1977 Jimmy Carter 1981 Ronald Reagan 1989 George H.W. Bush construct a new 21st century type. model and the distributed model to better legacy, combining both ideas thefrom a centralizedlonger traditionthat of a building 21st documentscentury in our digitallibrary age. We proposeincorporate it reflective of the nature of records and 1993 Bill Clinton 2001 George W. Bush 2009 Barack Obama 21ST CENTURY STATIONS OFDEMOCRACY STATIONS 9 10 STATIONS OFDEMOCRACY STATIONS EXPANDING MONUMENTS HOW BIG . IS TOO BIG? stand for? Or how do we assure that we are purposeofthis building? Andwhat should it The question becomes: whathouse occupy less and less is physical space. the real bigger, the actual records While theypresidential intendlibraries continueto to get DEDICATED 1940 The Franklin D. Roosevelt 108,750 SF Library & Museum DEDICATED 1952 The Dwight D. Eisenhower 109,254 SF Library & Museum DEDICATED 1957 The Harry S. Truman 96,612 SF Library & Museum DEDICATED 1962 The Herbert Hoover 47,169 SF Library & Museum the project’s scale and programmatic links impact communities? We must reevaluate but a significant not contributiondesigning a that hollowed-out can monument Obama Foundation to guide the design. to allow the true objectives of the Barack DEDICATED 1971 The Lyndon B. Johnson 139,267 SF Library & Museum DEDICATED 1979 The John F. Kennedy 134,293 SF Library & Museum DEDICATED 1981 The Gerald R. Ford 104,764 SF Library & Museum DEDICATED 1986 The Jimmy Carter 85,592 SF Library & Museum DEDICATED 1990 The Ronald Reagan 55,373 SF Library & Museum DEDICATED 1991 The Richard Nixon 147,400 SF Library & Museum DEDICATED 1997 The George Bush 116,527 SF Library & Museum DEDICATED 2004 The William J. Clinton 152,122 SF Library & Museum DEDICATED 2013 The George W. Bush Library & Museum 210,864 SF OFDEMOCRACY STATIONS 2020 11 STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY LIBRARY IN THE DIGITAL AGE INFORMATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE: FROM ‘CONTAINER OF KNOWLEDGE’ TO NETWORK, FROM BUILDING TO CLOUD What should the library be in the digital of meeting and learning and as a symbol age when the building is no longer needed of democratic values and principles. In our to house original documents and public society, democracy needs to constantly records are mainly digitized? What is be maintained, nourished and invested then the primary purpose of a physical in through the process of ‘making things structure? Two-fold: as a communal place public.’ 12 13 STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY BATTLE OVER Illinois shelving $100 million “gift to Obama library ” THE SITE -USA Today WHO WINS, WHO LOSES? While at Law School, Obama pio- “ neered a new brand of activism for students who hoped to ensure that Harvard adhered to a standard of diversity and equality.” -The Harvard Crimson Three South Side groups bid “ for Obama library ” -The Chicago Maroon Mayor de Blasio wants “ Obama to bring his library to Columbia University” -New York Daily News Hawaii Makes Its Case for Obama’s “ Library: Why Not Bring It to the Beach? ” -The New York Times President Obama promised us change, which doesn’t happen overnight, but “ change he has delivered and will Hawaii Overshadowed by Chicago for continue to do so ” “ Obama Library ” -The Washington Times -The Associated Press 14 15 STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY born August 4 1 6 3 9 6 1 9 1 HON 44th president of . O 7 .C LU 6 the United States D L 9 N U 1 O nt N T side o IN G re e N S P la D I U S n O i H a E N S n le 5 t E 0 e o m Barack Sr. visits 0 A t S 2 F a e W n ra n I from Kenya e t A POLITICAL n a S s r 1 S is y 97 1 B k U e u H s s P O u A u elected to the k n N i s a US Senate S i s O h d c i o n h L u a o U l l S e o t a L l c a G h U n o & e l o l S i l NARRATIVE o h e t g n r a a t a c i S B h , r s C i e f o n i o n i l M y l t , I t i s i c s r v e j a e o v D r i OBAMA’S MANY “HOMES” p P n u s U o w e r O i r e t i G i e L n c r v h u D u c c m . e e r t N v m B A e a i o c 1 l C o Y R p g i e n d u e 9 s P s e L u 7 e . R i b w C t n l i s 9 c . e r I n e n t e a p s o r s L o t I C l n a l Presidents Obama’s legacy does not inspiration which engages its community t a u e r n d n o i a t r l m a C v N r b o a i a H l O Y l e U belong in a single place. In fact, his unique while re-telling the story of how a young 1 C g G n 9 e i v A 8 e l r s C 1 o i I t o y h H story is exactly the opposite. His political boy in Hawaii made his way to the White c S C w a L d E r a v r a H G C elected to the Illinois D H I narrative and leadership was shaped by key House. Such a concept expresses our I R graduates from 1 C B A G M A O State Senate 9 C high school 9 1 1 9 stations of his intellectual and personal age of network nodes – the same spatial 8 1 5 9 8 life. The library should be present in these mechanism which aided Barack Obama in 8 key stations, as a place of learning and his elections. graduates from Columbia University elected president of the Harvard Law Review 16 17 STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY STATIONS OF DEMOCRACY 05 Ethic of Citizenship COMMUNITY + ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP 01 | HONOLULU, HI ETHIC OF FIVE CITIZENSHIP HEALTH + 05 | WASHINGTON DC WELLNES 02 | NEW YORK, NY PUBLIC STATIONS EDUCATION FIVE CONCEPTS PUBLIC EDUCATION Ideals which represent the guiding symbolic and programmatic functions of SOCIAL principles and future aspirations of the each of the five proposed library projects.