Sunny and Bo, along with the rest of the former First Family, are adjusting to their new civilian life—and doorbells. In her first public talk since leaving the White House, former First Lady Michelle Obama explained that the old Washington, D.C., house she called home for the last eight years doesn’t have them. Before Obama came on stage at the AIA Conference on Architecture, the AIA recognized the late Paul Revere Williams, the 2017 AIA Gold Medalist who, like Obama, was the first African American to hold that title.
In a conversation with the 2017 AIA president, Thomas Vonier, FAIA, Obama touched on topics ranging from urban design to work-life balance, as well as the Obama Presidential Center being designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects I Partners. (“We are working with a fabulous couple of architects,” she said.) Obama also said she’s not planning to run for office. “I wouldn’t ask my children to do this again,” she said.
