'Obamalisco': Obama's cultural center opens in Chicago amid criticism of the project

People attend the inauguration of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Illinois, on June 18, 2026
Pedro Ugarte/AFP
International star shows and the presence of entertainment and political celebrities marked the inauguration of the Obama Presidential Center, this Thursday (18), in Chicago.
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Everyone attended the event living former US presidents: Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and Republican George W. Bush, in addition to the honoree himself. On stage, names like Bruce Springsteen, John Legend and U2 performed for the audience that gathered on the venue's lawn, despite the rain.
Located in the South Side, a region of poor neighborhoods where Obama lived for years, the museum, officially presented as a "presidential library", draws attention for its architecture with pure lines, made up of a block of gray granite with almost no windows.
The building is far from unanimous, however. He was heavily criticized by Trump, which is not a surprise - but experts from newspapers such as the "New York Times" echo the current president.
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The project was nicknamed "Obamalisk" and was even compared by some to spaceships from the Star Wars saga.
According to architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, responsible for the project, the 69 meter high tower resembles four hands outstretched towards the heaven.
The building represents another chapter in an already well-established American tradition. Bill Clinton, George H. Bush and Ronald Reagan built their own presidential museums and libraries, which tell part of their careers and mandates.
This is a practice regulated by a law approved by Congress in 1955. It is also known that Donald Trump intends to build his own version in Miami, Florida.
The inauguration of Obama's museum has been widely discussed for months. The center cost more than US$800 million, a value considered high for a project that, according to the former Democratic president's team, aims to be both a space of memory and a community center.
It is "a refuge of hope", states the Obama Foundation website. The word "Hope" even appears prominently at the entrance to the complex. According to those responsible, 100% of the cost of the work was financed by private donations.
The institution occupies around eight hectares on the land that hosted the Universal Exhibition of 1893. Visitors can explore written archives, photos, videos and even appreciate gifts received by the former president during his term. The public will also have access to a reproduction of the Oval Office when Barack Obama was in the White House, before Donald Trump added its golden decoration.
Former President Barack Obama speaks at the inauguration ceremony of the Obama Presidential Center, on June 18, 2026, in Chicago
Alex Brandon/AP Photo
Trump compares the center to trash
Trump has not stopped criticizing the presidential center, with direct attacks. In early June, the current head of the White House ridiculed his predecessor's building design by sharing an image generated by artificial intelligence on social media.
The assembly replaced the original structure with a huge container with a garbage bag. He also removed the green areas around the complex and added, in their place, tents and camps for homeless people. The image was accompanied by the caption: "The Barack Hussein Obama Library, in 10 years, when it is fully mature!"
Trump's criticisms reflect a certain resistance to the building's architecture. The New York Times, for example, considers the tower to be cold and uninviting; the Washington Post talks about a kind of time travel; The Guardian compares it to "a menacing science fiction prison".
But it's not just the architecture that generates controversy. The construction of the center on public land, next to popular neighborhoods, gave rise to several legal actions that attempted to block the project.
Although Barack Obama states that the objective of the space is to be accessible to everyone, the reality is that, since the announcement of the project, property prices in the region have soared, while the construction of high-end housing has accelerated. Not to mention that entry to the museum costs US$30.
With information from the RFI agency.

Source: G1