Architecture Commons^™

Locating The Memory Of Political Genocide In The Tradition Of Peace: Two Documentation Centers Of Nazism In Germany, Rumiko Handa

Architecture Program: Faculty Scholarly and Creative Activity

How can architectural design assist in making the past present in meaningful ways when applied to buildings that commemorate troubling pasts? This dilemma becomes even more challenging when a preexisting building is located in a district that had provided citizens with a peaceful setting for leisurely activities before it was taken over for politically hostile purposes. Once that evil force has been eliminated, both city authorities and citizens may desire to return the district to its distant past, bringing peace back to the area. Yet they may also desire that the building carry their difficult memories of the more immediate …