Update: The Chicago Tribune's architecture critic Blair Kamin has now reported that 140 architects from 60 cities have expressed their interest in designing the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago by submitting qualifications. Of these, 99 are based in the United States, although names have not been released. The below article, originally published on September 1st, lists 11 architects that Kamin was able to confirm had been invited to submit qualifications by the Barack Obama Foundation.
Last week, it was reported that the Barack Obama Foundation was searching globally for an architect to design Obama's Presidential Library and Museum (officially known as the Barack Obama Presidential Center). With the list of invited candidates for Obama's Presidential Center still a closely-guarded secret, though, the Chicago Tribune's architecture critic Blair Kamin has turned investigator, uncovering a list of 11 firms among the "fifty or more" which are believed to have been invited. Kamin states that the 11 firms he has confirmed to be in the running are "A) Of high caliber; B) Represent a broad geographic and aesthetic spectrum; and C) Include the established firms one would expect to be invited."
Read on for the full list uncovered by Kamin.
The 11 firms named by Kamin are:
- Ennead Architects
- Robert A.M. Stern Architects
- Renzo Piano
- Ross Barney Architects
- Perkins+Will (Chicago)
- Tigerman McCurry Architects
- Diller Scofidio + Renfro
- Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (San Francisco)
- Philip Freelon (Perkins+Will North Carolina)
- Helmut Jahn
- Krueck+Sexton
In addition, Kamin states that Jeanne Gang, Morphosis Architects and David Adjaye (who many see as the favorite for the commission) all declined to comment following his request.
Read the full article here.
Correction update: Due to a misinterpretation of Blair Kamin's article, this article initially cited David Adjaye as one of the 11 architects confirmed by Kamin; in fact, the 11th confirmed architects were Krueck+Sexton. However, though Adjaye was not confirmed by Kamin he is still widely believed to be a frontrunner on the list of invited architects.
