The architectural design of former President Barack Obama’s presidential center in Chicago is once again the subject of public debate. This time, it’s the perplexing text adorning the building’s upper structure that has left local residents both puzzled and bemused.
Chicago Sun-Times architecture critic Lee Bay recently shared his thoughts on social media, noting, “I’m outside the Obama Center museum tower right now,” which prompted a wave of commentary and satire from both the local community and conservative circles.
Bay further remarked, “The new letters – an excerpt from Obama’s Selma speech – are tough to read to me, giving off the lorem ipsum vibes,” drawing a comparison to the often-used placeholder text in design drafts, known for its unintelligible jumble of Latin words.
Set to open its doors in June, after facing numerous setbacks such as legal challenges and federal assessments, the Obama presidential center promises to be a multifaceted complex. It will feature a library, museum, athletic facilities, and more, all nestled within a 20-acre expanse on Chicago’s South Side.
A centerpiece of the construction is the 225-foot museum tower, which bears the text from Obama’s 2015 speech in Selma, Alabama. This speech commemorated the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, a pivotal event where civil rights protesters encountered brutal opposition from local authorities, ultimately influencing the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The inscribed words from Obama’s oration aim to capture the historical significance and enduring message of that moment in civil rights history. However, the choice of design execution has led to a lively discussion about its readability and overall impact.
“You are America. Unconstrained by habit and convention. Unencumbered by what is, ready to seize what ought to be. For everywhere in this country, there are first steps to be taken, there is new ground to cover, there are more bridges to be crossed. America is not the project of any one person. The single most powerful word in our democracy is the word ‘We.’ ‘We The People.’ ‘We Shall Overcome.’ ‘Yes We Can.’ That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone. Oh, what a glorious task we are given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.”
Critics of the building had a field day on X in response to the building update, including one user comparing it to a “Klingon prison” in a nod to “Star Trek,” while others lampooned the alleged inability to read the text.
“What don’t you understand about,” Targeted Victory vice president Logan Dobson posted. “YOU ARE AMERICA ED BY HABILAND UNENCUMBERED ADY TO SEIZE WE,” he continued, mocking the confusing layout of the text.
“The dyslexic in me is not amused,” journalist and columnist Salena Zito posted.
“He put his own speech on the outside of his library?” one user posted. “Find yourself someone who loves you like Obama loves himself.”
“I gave up after developing a headache three lines from the top,” one user posted.
“It looks like a WW2-era German anti-aircraft tower,” another posted.
“I noticed when I was in the air that the sentences wrap around the west and south sides of the building, and looks decent in a very specific spot on the ground or very good from the air… but like that’s not an ideal design in my opinion,” a Chicago photojournalist posted to X.
Other users didn’t take issue with the campus itself, but remarked how the construction is gentrifying the South Side.
“It actually does look good,” one user posted. “Love or hate the guy, at least the presidential library will have a nice park for people to walk through. I get the whole blue vs red thing. But right now the main problem seems to be the gentrification and house price increases in the neighborhood.”
The text inscription was prepared for installation at the end of 2025, according to the Obama Foundation’s website.
“At the Museum Building, crews are preparing support structures ahead of the installation of screen text taken from President Obama’s speech “You Are America,” which marked the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches,” the Obama Foundation said in its year-end recap on construction for 2025.
The Obama Foundation has celebrated the center repeatedly since it was first announced more than a decade ago, describing it ahead of its opening as “a lively community hub, economic anchor, and beacon of democracy right here on the South Side of Chicago.”
The campus has come under scrutiny from locals over gentrification concerns and over its Brutalist-style of architecture, a post-war-era style popularized in the 1950s known for its modular and minimalist designs. For locals in Chicago, they’ve dubbed the building the “The Obamalisk,” according to the New York Post, in a jab at the Brutalist-inspired design.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Obama Foundation for additional comment Tuesday morning.
