The Obama Presidential Center Expanding opportunity in the global age, improving the health of our communities, protecting our children from the dangers of climate change, and looking beyond military force to promote peace, justice, and dignity throughout the world. Make real America's founding promise, that we are all created equal and free. THE WHY I DESIGN PHILOSOPHY We seek to promote no individual style; each building is built upon a conceptual framework, derived from the program and the response to the site. It is fundamental that each building speak to its purpose and internal processes in simple terms, yet aspire to an intrinsic symbolic concept. Architecture must raise the level of expectation and wonder, focusing on the experience of the occupant. Materials are chosen for their inherent integrity, natural beauty, and patina. Synthetic or continuously renewed surface erases the mark of time lacking a sense of permanence and longevity. THE HOW I COMMITMENT rich rd+bauer carefully balances the need for fit within the context and community fabric while providing an iconic public identity for each. The rich rd+bauer team is uniquely qualified to translate the vision of the new Barack Obama Presidential Center into a state of the art interdisciplinary, interactive public library, research, and museum center. Recent new similar projects experience by the collective project team directly apply to the possibilities, opportunities and choices faced by you and your team on this project. Our team members have all worked on library, research, and community center projects together involving how to balance the needs of new modern themes and technology with a reverence to tradition of functional and innovative learning environments that support leading edge technologies and learning styles, flexible and adaptable design, and integrated systems for design and sustainability. THE WHAT I PROCESS<