THE OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTRE towers over(高耸于…之上) Chicago’s South Side like a Brutalist(粗野主义（建筑风格）) ziggurat (see picture). Eight storeys of concrete covered in granite loom over other granite buildings on a granite plaza: grey, grey and more grey. The new monument has a Soviet science-fiction look: 1980s Moscow meets Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune”. In fact, it is a tribute(致敬；颂词) to America’s 44th president. Opening to the public on June 19th after years of construction and a cost of around $850m, it boasts the dubious distinction(令人质疑的殊荣) of being the most expensive presidential library in history.
奥巴马总统中心像一座粗野主义风格的金字形神塔耸立在芝加哥南区。八层覆盖着花岗岩的混凝土建筑，在花岗岩广场上俯瞰着其他花岗岩建筑：灰色、灰色，还是灰色。这座新纪念碑带有苏联科幻小说般的外观：1980年代的莫斯科遇上丹尼斯·维伦纽瓦的《沙丘》。实际上，它是向美国第44任总统致敬。经过多年建设，耗资约8.5亿美元，它于6月19日向公众开放，并拥有历史上最昂贵的总统图书馆这一引人质疑的殊荣。
Presidential libraries have a public function: to preserve the former leader’s papers, which are deemed state property. But they also have a more personal one: to let presidents present their achievements, justify their actions and tell their life story without quibbles(吹毛求疵；琐碎异议) from opposition politicians, pesky(恼人的；烦人的) journalists or protesters. They are a peculiar institution, and the opening of Barack Obama’s illuminates(阐明；照亮) why they are so controversial.
总统图书馆有一个公共职能：保存前领导人的文件——这些文件被视为国家财产。但它们也有一个更私人的职能：让总统展示自己的成就，辩护自己的行为，讲述自己的人生故事，而不受反对党政客、烦人的记者或抗议者的质疑。它们是一种独特的制度，而巴拉克·奥巴马图书馆的开放揭示了为什么它们如此具有争议。
Many countries preserve presidential material in state archives, and some notable 21st-century leaders can claim museums and monuments in their honour, such as the recent heads of Nigeria and South Africa. But America blends these two functions, with private donors paying for much of the construction through presidential “foundations”, and a government agency, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), caring for the records. Only America enshrines into law the right to a library for its head of state, highlighting how the country has granted the head of the executive branch, supposedly one of three equal branches of government, a somewhat regal aura.(只有美国将为国家元首设立图书馆的权利写入法律，凸显了该国如何赋予行政部门首脑（按说与立法、司法三权分立）某种王室般的特权。)
许多国家将总统资料保存在国家档案馆中，一些21世纪的著名领袖可以拥有以他们命名的博物馆和纪念碑，例如尼日利亚和南非的近期领导人。但美国将这两种功能融合在一起，由私人捐赠者通过总统“基金会”支付大部分建设费用，并由政府机构——国家档案馆（NARA）负责管理档案。只有美国将为国家元首设立图书馆的权利写入法律，凸显了该国如何赋予行政部门首脑（按说与立法、司法三权分立）某种王室般的特权。
