Obama selling ugly merch shaped liked his presidential center - as architects reveal he pushed for ‘Death Star’ design

NY Post ^ | 5/05/26 | Alex Oliveira

[Libloather]

Former President Barack Obama’s presidential library is hocking pricey merch shaped like the unsightly Chicago tower — as the project’s architects revealed the former commander-in-chief himself was behind the “Death Star” design that’s been widely mocked since construction began.

Ungainly lapel pins that “capture the silhouette” of the Obama Presidential Center are going for $30 in the online store.

“The pin represents the intersection of bold design and global leadership,” the website reads, noting the proceeds go to the Obama Foundation “to inspire, empower and connect people to change their world.”

Each pin is “handcrafted from unfired paper clay,” and is 1.6 inches tall by 1 inch wide — about as oversized as the center itself, which lords 225 feet over Chicago’s Jackson Park in a monolith of concrete and granite.

The $850 million center is slated to open in June after 10 years of development — and criticism of its domineering design — but its online store recently went live in the build-up to the grand opening.

Many weren’t impressed with the pricey pins — with some comparing them to chewing gum, pregnancy tests and blobs of toothpaste.

“It looks like chewed gum or an eraser that a third grader has been mutilating,” one user on X wrote.

“How is that even uglier than the actual building?” said another.

“I thought the building was ugly, then I see the pin,” wrote a third.

[1_Rain_Drop]

looks like an artist’s kneaded eraser.

[rxh4n1]

“Unless care is taken, the ugliness of the creator gets put on display.”

“Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:”