A22CON: A Moderated Conversation With Barack Obama

The final keynote of the 2022 AIA National Convention was a much-anticipated event. It took place on Friday, June 24th in Chicago. Hundreds of members from around the world flocked to the McCormick Centre main stage, eager to welcome one of the most distinguished speakers and thought leaders of our time: none other than the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama.

At first glance, one might wonder what a former President might have to say to an audience of architecture professionals. Quite a lot, it turns out – and much of his commentary was well-received. This is unsurprising given what we have come to expect from the former President. His responses to the host, AIA 2022 President Dan Hart, were eloquent and well-examined – albeit more from a perspective of an urban policymaker than a traditional architect.

The discussion began with direct line of inquiry as to Obama’s favourite architecture. His response? Iconic buildings, like the Sydney Opera House. “[I’m] biased toward modern architecture, in and out,” stated Obama, with a hint of pride. On contemplating the question further, he ventured to mention the work of architect Vladimir Ossipoff, whose buildings he had seen on a recent visit to Hawaii. He expressed admiration for a house and a high school chapel near the neighbourhood where he grew up, whose design he praised for being “tailored toward the tropics.” 

Hart mentioned that he had heard Obama once wanted to be an architect in his youth. “Why the change of mind?” asked Hart.

“[I] bumped my head and got steered on the wrong path!” was the jest he received in reply, to general amusement. In university, Obama’s interests steered toward social justice issues. “But my love for architecture never went away,” he asserted, referring to the Obama Presidential Centre in Hyde Park, designed by architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. “I’m not sure [the architects] always appreciate my opinions,” reflected Obama. “But what can they say? My name is on the building!”

He expressed hope that the Presidential Centre, which broke ground in September 2021, will be an integral part of a dynamic urban campus. “The [design] team is wonderful in recognising that we’re not building a mausoleum – ‘cuz I’m not dead yet,” he continued, glancing around comically to more appreciative laughter. For Barack Obama, architecture is a medium for establishing communities. His vision for “a laboratory for social change” is one where people can “learn about ways to impact their communities.” He hopes it will also become an economic engine, where people can interact with business practitioners from their own neighbourhoods. 

He sat back with a pensive expression. “Chicago has never looked more beautiful,” he mused, abandoning thoughts of his own building to contemplate the city in its entirety. Whether downtown, Millennium Park, or the Gehry Auditorium – it is no secret that Barack Obama adores his hometown of Chicago. Nonetheless, there was space for improvement. The former President was aware of architecture and the power it can have, particularly in areas that historically have not been invested in. “Can you animate the lakefront both ways?” he wondered aloud. “[Can you] create opportunity to stitch together the city in ways it has not always been?”

From there, the discussion quickly shifted to equity in the built environment. “How do you see climate and equity interweaving?” inquired Hart.

The former President became serious. “Chicago,” he began, sounding concerned, “is a case study in which architecture enforced inequity.” He spoke, of course, of the city’s public housing. “Design that packed in the poorest residents, reinforced segregation, [and] isolated people…[it’s] what not to do if you want to build equity,” he contended. “It’s also true that those buildings were not necessarily energy efficient. Not a lot of thought was given to how people live.” He continued the topic of energy usage by saying, although Chicago is fun in June – it can be rough in December, as anyone who has experienced winters there would know. Such seasonal extremes are an important reason why quality housing is urgently needed.

Most of those old buildings have now been torn down, but the underlying failures remain. “How do we create affordable mixed housing?” he asked. The main challenge is to create successful communities. He believes the answer to this lies in foot traffic, street level stores, and safety in numbers. He exalted Jane Jacobs and decried Bob Moses. Nooks, crannies, and parks give urban environments much-needed charm and character. “Government policy makes a difference…. sprawl in America is not good for climate,” he advised, a statement which received general applause. Nonetheless he was keen to express caution. He admitted that even “well-intentioned laws sometimes inhibit, and sometimes empower NIMBY attitudes.” And sometimes his own party could be at fault, which is why “good planning and skilled architects are needed.”

He gave some examples of different policies and how they affected cities. In Texas – “let’s face it,” he said, “zoning is not a priority…. [but] on the flip side, it’s much more affordable.” He then compared this to San Francisco. “[It’s] aesthetically beautiful…but a teacher lives 1 hour or more away from where they work.” He continued by emphasizing that these discrepancies are not just a design issue – but a policy issue. “Local and federal government [must provide] sufficient financing for affordable and energy efficient housing.” Policy must call for intentionally mixed use and mixed income communities with adequate public transportation. Unfortunately, there is bipartisan resistance to the ideas Obama is proposing. “Communities are not that liberal in situating affordable housing,” he admitted. The challenge lies in convincing people of the merits.

He turned this conversation about compromises back to his own project, which gives up substantial site area to allow for public access to green space. “It is harder to design with these additional intentions involved,” he admitted, drawing comparisons between architectural decisions to policy decisions. Though he advocates giving back to the community, he does not deny the difficulty in negotiating matters of cost. “As a client of architects,” he told the audience, “I can assure you: cost is relevant!” He recounted some conversations with Tod and Billie which led to pushback and urged everyone to think as creatively about affordability as they do about design.

“[For] a lot of things in our capitalist society… we associate quality with how expensive it is, and sometimes those don’t match up,” he said. “Creativity becomes ‘well, let’s just throw a lot of marble on it.’” He gave food as an analogy. “Growing up we ate hamburgers. Later in life, I got a ribeye – and I said, that’s better!” He compared this with today’s latest high standard: wagyu beef. Supposedly, calves are routinely massaged to produce highly marbled steaks. Does this really make a substantial difference in the outcome? At some point, he argued, you meet the necessary level of design quality. Beyond that point – to the ordinary person at least – it just does not matter. “Sometimes that’s how I feel when I’m talking to architects,” he said. “I was feeling pretty good looking at ribeye!” 

“But look – it’s one thing building a Presidential Centre. Where this [concept] matters is…affordable housing.” The former President admitted that affordable design simply cannot be bespoke for a sizable amount. It must be replicable, and therefore “cookie cutter” to a certain extent. “But that’s no reason design can’t reflect how people are living,” he said. He believes affordable housing can be aesthetically pleasing, insulated properly, and well-built so it does not fall quickly into disrepair.

“Those cities that charm us, that make us feel good, oftentimes become exclusive province of the well-to-do. People want to see people, [they] want to walk [and] enjoy the surprise of little park or fountain.” Affordable housing often gets wiped of these supposed “luxuries.” They are not really luxuries, stressed Obama, they are things we need, especially if there are not as many resources within the house.

Dan Hart posed his next question about getting into conversation with the community and understanding their needs. “From your perspective, what advice do you have to architects maybe not having the agency [to do so]?” 

Barack Obama relayed advice that he was told while campaigning in his early years. “Go out and talk to people,” he replied simply. “It was the single most important thing I learned.” In fact, he thinks listening is more important than talking. “People, when they feel listened to,” he explained, “will tell you what’s important to them and who they are.” As architects, we might not be able to steer every outcome, but small gestures of interest – like hosting a town hall meeting or soliciting input – can help garner support and collaboration. It does not have to be a huge effort, but factoring outreach activities into the project timetable can pay off through avoiding issues with stakeholders.

He returned to his example of the Presidential Centre, which contains within it a branch of the Chicago library system. “The head of the library wrote to us recently” he said, “to tell us that rather than having smaller spaces cut up, they’d prefer a big central space.” The design team is now in the process of shaping the library based on this feedback. Despite this moment of disagreement, the former President was confident that the compromise and negotiation will lead to better results. He is concerned, however, that not everyone believes it.

“This is the biggest obstacle we are facing as a country right now,” he reflected. “We are very divided…we don’t have a common narrative. To some degree we never had a common narrative because some voices were excluded from it.” Despite this historic exclusion, more minority groups have a seat at the table than ever before, creating pushback, he explained. Obama described this polarising effect as “a cultural mismatch…a divergence reinforced by a splintering of the media.” He spoke strongly in favour of logic and reason as the antidote to the present situation. These Enlightenment values, he claimed, help us decide on two important questions: “How do we compromise? What are the principles we don’t compromise?”

He raised the discussion of climate as an example. The productive debate, he argued, would be to argue between adaptation or mitigation – and not whether climate change is a hoax. The latter argument cuts across every issue and eliminates the possibility of meaningful progress. And if there is anything Barack Obama deems worthwhile, it’s progress. “Liz Cheney disagrees with me on everything,” he said, “except on democracy and counting votes. Some things extend beyond any particular issue. The fact that we don’t have more of that is a problem.” Scepticism affects every institution, said the former President. It affects the integrity of the courts. It affects our democracy. “When those things start to fray,” he cautioned, “they are hard to put back together again.”

“Democracy doesn’t function unless we determine ground rules,” he said. “If I’m playing basketball – you can’t tackle me. You have to have rules, otherwise game doesn’t make sense. [We] can’t be politically expedient; the sport more important than that one game. That’s how we have to think about our democracy.” We can’t be afraid of changing demographics, women in the workforce, or Barack Obama being president, he added slyly. Although these developments upended what were certainties for a lot of people, it’s important to pay attention and hold the line maintaining the integrity of democratic institutions.

Following this speech on democracy, Hart asked Obama to reflect on his highs and lows during his years as President.

The most gratifying moment, he answered, was the night he passed the Affordable Care Act. Reforming healthcare in the United States was a difficult journey for his administration. “It’s hard to describe just how crazy some of the debates were…some strange arguments were made,” he revealed. “It was a good night. I felt good - because that’s why you get elected. You get elected to get something done.” The Act meant that not just poor working people, but independent contractors, musicians, designers, and small businesspeople wouldn’t have to worry about losing healthcare coverage.

The worst period he had to face as President was the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook. “It was the only time I saw secret service members cry on the job,” he admitted. He spoke about his powerlessness to comfort parents and make statements following the deaths of 6-year-olds and their teacher. He recalled “fury” at Congress doing nothing; despite a keen sense that inaction was not an option, inaction was the only response. “As bleak as some Supreme court decisions are…there is a bright spot if there is bipartisan legislation,” he said. “This was the closest I came to getting cynical.” 

“We used to have stickers in White House that said ‘Fight Cynicism,’” he continued. “We had to remind ourselves [that] after spending a lot of time talking to Congress…[and] we did fight cynicism, to the very end.” Obama looked around the room. According to him, this was something we should all do in our work: to not feel resigned; to choose hope instead.

Being the leader of the free world is a difficult job, observed Dan Hart. On this point, the host inquired about lessons in leadership learned while in office. The audience included many practice leaders – were there any skills that might resonate with architects?

“Interestingly, the most cliche answers really apply,” said Barack Obama. “It is important to build a culture that is focused on: how do I empower people on that team so they are doing the best they can, and they feel you are invested in them?” Building a positive work culture is something that applies to any type of profession – including architecture. Yet it’s more than just throwing around company slogans and Christmas parties. “You can tell the phony from the real,” he warned. “Folks can tell if you actually care about [their] success, growth, and improvement.”

The former president described himself as “very big” on building a culture of accountability and responsibility – without being too heavy on hierarchy. While at the White House, Obama’s top advisors (he dubbed them “muckity-mucks”) were often seated at the table while the staffers would cram around them. “I made a practice early on,” he said, “to just go ‘Hey you in the back! What do you think?’” The staffers – usually in their late-twenties to mid-thirties – would be taken aback by his addresses. Nonetheless, he pressed them to contribute. “What I did know,” he said, “is that they were preparing the memos for the ‘muckity mucks’ – and doing a lot of the work!”

The former Present recognized that good ideas can come from anyone at any level of an organization. He made an effort to obtain diverse viewpoints that might otherwise be overlooked. “Value and insights are not dependent on your status, but quality of work and information you possess,” he observed. “In this current environment, if you’re not intentional about having persons of colour with different ideas at the table – over the long haul you will lose, because we all have blind spots.”

“There’s a saying [that] everything rolls downhill. In the White House, [it] rolls uphill – if we don’t know what to do? Send it to the President.” He continued, smiling. “No problem came to me that wasn’t really hard and no one else could solve it - otherwise it wouldn’t come to me…[but] every decision is about dealing with probabilities.” The decisions we make as leaders don’t have a 100% solution, he explained. In those situations, he believes it’s important for people to argue it out from different angles – so that all the “data” is on the table and can contribute toward a final, fully informed decision. “[This] applies to any institution,” he said, “and it’s more likely to happen if you’ve stocked your team from different perspectives.”

He briefly mentioned Chicago’s Soldier Field, and how he’d observed women waiting in line for the restroom. “That’s a design flaw that men would not have come up with,” he pointed out. Issues like these can be someone’s everyday reality but escape someone else’s notice. The former President urged the audience to notice things. “Notice how all the men do all the talking,” he said, smiling a little at the irony. “Examine the degree in which senior men built up bad habits.” He mentioned examples from his own life where a woman would speak, and a man would go on to say the same thing 20 minutes later. According to Barack Obama, the first step in making ourselves better, making decisions better – and ultimately, making us all feel better – lies in listening and noticing others.

As his anecdotes on these various subjects drew to a close, it became clear that we were also nearing the end of the event. Though there was no time allotted for questions from the audience, it seemed that the attendees were satisfied. Not everyone present would agree with everything the former President said. It is not difficult to suppose that even his most ardent political dissenters could not help but listen to such a famous and charismatic speaker. Excepting a few laughs and cheers, there was complete silence whenever he spoke. Everyone in the room – positively or negatively – seemed quite attentive to the man before them. Even ignoring his political slant, Barack Obama had managed to capture relevant topics and a general spirit of the AIA National Convention. 

“Sir,” concluded Dan Hart, equally captivated by the former President. “I do believe you have the mind of an architect.”

“I have the eye,” Obama replied confidently. “But building models with the little trees and stuff…” He trailed off sheepishly. “I’m not very nimble.”

Hart replied that there were many people on a design team, including modelmakers.

“It’s never too late to revisit a career in architecture,” he said cheerfully. “Just saying – think about it.”

Written by Adelina Koleva, AIA

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