It’s been a good week for Chicago. After beating out San Francisco and Los Angeles to be the future home of the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts, the Windy City is gearing up for yet another major cultural project. A number of cities and sites are jockeying for the privilege of hosting the Obama Presidential Library, but according to Chicagoist, architecture giant HOK has just unveiled their design for the institution, and the proposal has all the makings of a winner.

Rendering by HOK.

While several architecture firms have submitted their own bids for the new museum and library, HOK’s design comes in coordination with the Museum Campus Foundation, an organization comprised of a number of community groups located in Bronzeville, a historic neighborhood on Chicago’s south side. The plan seeks to broaden the city’s museum area down towards Bronzeville, bringing with it a number of benefits for both the neighborhood and the city at large. The design of the site is meant to reflect the “grassroots spirit of the Obama campaign.”

Rendering by HOK.

“Our proposal challenges the historic trend of designing presidential libraries as static repositories of a presidency,” HOK design principal Peter Ruggiero said of the project. “By fully realizing the potential of the site, the Barack Obama Presidential Library would go beyond cataloguing President Obama’s eight years in office. As a living part of this historic South Side neighborhood, it would drive economic development and reinforce a sense of place at a crossroads of Chicago.”