The 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, headlined AIA’s Conference on Architecture 2022 on Friday, June 24, in Chicago. He sat in conversation with AIA President Dan Hart, FAIA, where they discussed a wide variety of topics including his relationship to architecture, the issues facing the country, advice for architects and much more.
A longtime Chicago resident, President Obama reveled in the energy of his hometown by sharing anecdotes and wisdom gleaned from his eight years as President of the United States of America.
Much of the conversation revolved around President Obama’s relationship with many of AIA’s strategic priorities, including the link between environmental issues and social justice.
“Chicago is a case study of times architecture reinforced inequity,” he said, citing lower-income housing in the city that wasn’t energy efficient and didn’t “give a lot of thought to how people live,” particularly in the winter.
“Good planning and skilled architects are needed, but this is where government policy makes a difference. Sprawl in America isn’t good for our climate, so we have to think about how we create a liveable density that allows us to take mass transit and allows us to take bicycles and foot traffic,” he said. “It’s not just lack of funding for affordable housing, frankly some very well-intentioned laws and regulations at the local level, often generated from the left and my own party, sometimes are inhibiting the creation of affordable housing and empowering NIMBY attitudes that make it very difficult to integrate communities.”
He also looked inward at his experience with architecture and explained that at one point in his life the President wanted to be an architect. He also gave advice to architects that listening to the community can impact their work.
“The single most important thing I learned and carried through my entire career is listening to people. Turns out you don’t learn that much talking, but you do learn a lot listening,” President Obama said. “If people feel as if you’re actively listening and care about their stories and lives, they will tell you what’s important to them and who they are. That applies to every profession, including architecture.”
“The gesture of interest that can then inform design is something that anyone can do,” he added.
President Obama looked back on his time in the White House and discussed both the high points and low points of his presidency.
The passing of the Affordable Care Act was a highlight for President Obama, adding that he enjoyed a cold martini on the Truman Balcony at the White House with staff who worked on the legislation after it was codified into law.
The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut was the lowest point of his time in office.
“That was a low point in waves. There was the shock of what had happened. There was me traveling to try to comfort parents to whom this had just happened,” he said. “It was the only time I saw Secret Service members cry on the job,” adding that he also felt fury at Congress for not doing anything to pass tighter gun control legislation.
He reflected on the state of the country and looked at some of the biggest challenges that the country faces, and why he thinks there’s a need for the public to focus on facts again.
“Everyone used to be working off the same base of facts. Now if you read the New York Times you occupy a different world than if you watch Fox News,” he said. “Think about what’s happening with the January 6th Commission and hearings taking place in the House. If you’re watching it, you’re seeing one set of facts and if you’re watching Tucker Carlson you are seeing a very different set of facts.”
The President’s appearance at A’22 coincides with ongoing work at The Obama Presidential Center, an architecture project in the city’s Jackson Park neighborhood, a South Side neighborhood located mere miles from his speech at the McCormick Place Convention Center.
The project, which broke ground in September 2021, is designed by AIA Architecture Firm Award winners Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Architects. It will feature a museum that will emphasize “the fullness of the American story,” ample public space designed as a community gathering area, a new branch of the Chicago Public Library, and much more.
President Obama’s wife, First Lady Michelle Obama previously headlined the 2017 AIA Conference on Architecture in Orlando, Florida.
A more comprehensive report of President Obama’s appearance at A’22 is forthcoming.
