The Innovative Digital Archives at the Obama Presidential Center

Summary

Alexandra Lange discusses the Obama Presidential Center's design and digital archives. The center replaces traditional physical archives with digital files accessible anywhere. The campus includes community facilities but the museum tower is criticized as oversized and imperial.

• 95% of Obama's records are digital, so no physical archive building was built.
• The center includes a museum tower, forum building, Chicago Public Library branch, playground, and basketball court.
• The museum exhibits focus on democracy and feature personal objects from Obama's life.
• The tower is described as 225 feet tall, oversized, and imposing relative to its community setting.
• Critics argue the building could have been smaller and more approachable.
• The design by Ralph Appelbaum Associates is word-heavy and video-heavy.