I like well-done brutalist architecture. The OPC is well-done brutalist architecture. Thumbs up from me.
Maybe I have no taste but I liked the building. It seemed to fit with the surroundings. I like the quote on it. It stands out without being too gaudy or froufrou. It has presence and gravitas with enough interesting angles to avoid being a boring gray rectangle. I also appreciate the inclusion of non-presidential areas like the history section, although I think that Obama was right when he said people are just going to want to see Michelle’s dresses.
I was surprised by the profile – I somehow expected a low-rise building, and this is more like a small skyscraper. As to the “brutalist” architecture, I’d probably have to see it IRL to decide if I like it, but it’s definitely an avant-garde modern look. I think one reason people may not like it is that it doesn’t have a lot of windows, and in fact from some angles none at all, which gives it kind of a bunker look, or maybe a gold storage vault like Fort Knox. I’m not fond of the huge quotes on the building, which I think would have been better placed inside.
But all of that aside, yes, the Obamas are absolutely a class act. Both are the epitome of grace and refinement – such an incredible contrast to the toxic dreck currently polluting Washington that it makes one despair for the future.
I happen to be in College Station, Texas this weekend for work and couldn’t think of anything else to do so I visited the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. I didn’t vote for him during either presidential election but the contrast with the current occupant of the White House couldn’t be clearer, especially in how his background and experience qualified him for the White House.
Quite probably the ugliest new building on the planet!
Heartwarming and classy! In my estimation, Obama rivals JFK as the best US president in (my) living memory.
It was carved from a single block of granite, and how they got it from Peru to Chicago will forever be a mystery.