OBAMA DRONE AVIARY
OBAMA DRONE AV I A RY A LO GI ST I C S L I B RA RY IN T H E A ERI A L AG E
3623A
“ T H E Y D O N ’ T G E T H U N G R Y. T H E Y ’ R E N OT A F R A I D . THEY DON’T FORGET THEIR ORDERS. THEY DON’T C A R E I F T H E G U Y N E X T TO T H E M H A S J U S T B E E N S H OT. W I L L T H E Y D O A B E T T E R J O B T H A N H U MANS? YES .” — U n n a m e d P e n t a g o n o f f i c i a l ; c i t e d i n “ C o m i n g S o o n t o a B a t t l e f i e l d N e a r Yo u , ” American Scientist, September- October 2009
The Drone Aviary is a building oriented to the sk y instead of the street. It is also a librar y that, like an Amazon warehouse, collects and disburses artifacts rather than locking them away. The legacy of the Obama Presidency is the population and automation of the skies, transformed into a critical operation of his presidential librar y. The Obama librar y drones collect data in an age when libraries no longer rely on books but rather the accumulation of digital information. Quadcopters scan midwestern agricultural production, monitor the climate, and even follow the former president for live updates. The drones also serve physically distribute information. Chicago’s teachers who want to share with their students the pen used by Barack Obama to sign the healthcare reform bill simply request that the librar y send it via drone to their classroom. The tower has few inhabitants.
Drones move about making necessar y repairs to one another and the building. Ar tifacts remain tucked into the Aviar y wall until they are called upon for deliver y, future iterations of existing librar y automation services in place at sites like the University of Chicago. Long dark banks of servers whirl away between drone stations. A lone repairman wanders the tower executing the few tasks the drones cannot. At street level a sculpted landscape serves as a neighborhood park . Visitors lie in the grass and watch the drones navigate and cruise in the tower above. Larger winged drones land gracefully on the river to be elevated up the towers central void. A few rooms for visitors lie tucked away beneath the landscape, but mostly they remain empty. The Drone Aviary is a librar y for logistics. To experience all the treasures left by the Obama Administration, put your feet up, fire up a laptop, and click: Submit Request.
3623A
3623A
DRONE FUELING + MAINTENANCE
“[This] is the cit y visible when you lean out from the edge of the plateau at the hour when lights come on —”
SERVERS, REPAIR + SUPPORT
LIBRARY MATERIALS
OBAMA PAPERS + MEMORABILIA
3623A
3623A
“ T H E Y D O N ’ T G E T H U N G R Y. T H E Y ’ R E N OT A F R A I D . THEY DON’T FORGET THEIR ORDERS. THEY DON’T C A R E I F T H E G U Y N E X T TO T H E M H A S J U S T B E E N S H OT. W I L L T H E Y D O A B E T T E R J O B T H A N H U MANS? YES .” — U n n a m e d P e n t a g o n o f f i c i a l ; c i t e d i n “ C o m i n g S o o n t o a B a t t l e f i e l d N e a r Yo u , ” American Scientist, September- October 2009
The Drone Aviary is a building oriented to the sk y instead of the street. It is also a librar y that, like an Amazon warehouse, collects and disburses artifacts rather than locking them away. The legacy of the Obama Presidency is the population and automation of the skies, transformed into a critical operation of his presidential librar y. The Obama librar y drones collect data in an age when libraries no longer rely on books but rather the accumulation of digital information. Quadcopters scan midwestern agricultural production, monitor the climate, and even follow the former president for live updates. The drones also serve physically distribute information. Chicago’s teachers who want to share with their students the pen used by Barack Obama to sign the healthcare reform bill simply request that the librar y send it via drone to their classroom. The tower has few inhabitants.
Drones move about making necessar y repairs to one another and the building. Ar tifacts remain tucked into the Aviar y wall until they are called upon for deliver y, future iterations of existing librar y automation services in place at sites like the University of Chicago. Long dark banks of servers whirl away between drone stations. A lone repairman wanders the tower executing the few tasks the drones cannot. At street level a sculpted landscape serves as a neighborhood park . Visitors lie in the grass and watch the drones navigate and cruise in the tower above. Larger winged drones land gracefully on the river to be elevated up the towers central void. A few rooms for visitors lie tucked away beneath the landscape, but mostly they remain empty. The Drone Aviary is a librar y for logistics. To experience all the treasures left by the Obama Administration, put your feet up, fire up a laptop, and click: Submit Request.
3623A
3623A
DRONE FUELING + MAINTENANCE
“[This] is the cit y visible when you lean out from the edge of the plateau at the hour when lights come on —”
SERVERS, REPAIR + SUPPORT
LIBRARY MATERIALS
OBAMA PAPERS + MEMORABILIA
3623A
