Architect Sought for Obama’s Presidential Library Complex

WASHINGTON — The foundation overseeing the development of Barack Obama’s presidential library began a global competition on Wednesday to select the architect who will design the elaborate Chicago complex.

The start of the selection process is the latest step in Mr. Obama’s quiet but painstaking planning for his post-presidential initiatives, which his advisers say could cost as much as $1 billion.

The library, to be located on the South Side of Chicago, where the president had his political start as a community organizer, will be the crown jewel of the effort, a high-technology take on the traditional archival presidential library that will include space for innovation labs, a community garden and sports.

Martin Nesbitt, a close friend of Mr. Obama’s who is leading the project as the chairman of the Barack Obama Foundation, declined to name the architectural and design firms invited to participate, or to divulge how many were sent a “request for qualifications” for the work. But he said that the group consisted mostly of American architects, the vast majority of them based in Chicago. “Several” of the companies are owned by minorities or women, he said.

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