Barack Obama was greeted by a packed house at the close of the Friday session of this year’s A’22 Conference in his adopted hometown of Chicago.
Speaking to the capacity audience in a Q&A hosted by new AIA President Dan Hart, the two-term former U.S. President used his platform to touch upon the crisis of available affordable housing in America.1
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Obama also apparently made tacit endorsement of architectural labor unions before mentioning his own school-aged desire to pursue a career in the industry as well as the urgency of working with the public in a collaborative way, no matter the job function or professional field.2
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- 1. “Chicago is a case study of times architecture reinforced inequity,” he said, echoing long-held criticism of the city advanced recently by filmmaker Jordan Peele and documented by other observers of the city for a period of decades. Obama then spoke about the role government can play in aiding the delivery of more affordable units to the residential market, claiming that, in some cases, left-leaning policymakers are to blame for the predicament facing a number of states and municipalities.
- 2. “The single most important thing I learned and carried through my entire career is listening to people. Turns out you don’t learn that much talking, but you do learn a lot listening,” Obama said. “If people feel as if you’re actively listening and care about their stories and lives, they will tell you what’s important to them and who they are. That applies to every profession, including architecture. The gesture of interest that can then inform design is something that anyone can do.”