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<div><i><b>The Evidence Room</b></i><br>
June 25, 2017-January 28, 2018<br>
<br>
<b>Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)</b></div>
<div>Toronto, Canada</div>
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<div><img src="cid:f0624080dd59fed46c7fc@[192.168.0.59].1.0">Interior
perspective of<i> The Evidence Room</i> with models of Auschwitz gas
column and gas-tight hatch, plaster casts, and model of gas-tight
door. Photo: Fred Hunsberger, University of Waterloo School of
Architecture.</div>
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<div>Widely acclaimed as a critically important work on its debut at
the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of the 2016 Venice
Biennale,<i> The Evidence Room</i> examines the chilling role
architecture played in construting the Auschwitz death camp.<br>
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<div>The exhibition features reconstructions of key objects central to
the research work of Dr. Robert Jan van Pelt, one of the three
exhibition principals. His careful analysis of the architecture of
Auschwitz, introduced as evidence in a landmark court case,
established that it was purposefully designed as a death camp. This
ground-breaking research became a source for a new and emerging
discipline-architectural forensics-which encompasses architecture,
technology, history, law, and human rights.<i> The Evidence Room</i>
is a compelling illustration of the role of architectural forensics as
a means to establish the past and capture collective memory.<br>
</div>
<div>Designed by Waterloo architecture professors Donald McKay and
Anne Bordeleau,<i> The Evidence Room</i> includes full-scale
reconstructions of three key components of the Auschwitz gas
chambers-a gas column, gas-tight door, and gas-tight hatch-augmented
by more than 60 plaster casts of architectural evidence, including
blueprints, architects' correspondence, contractors' bills,
photographs, and drawings. Constructed entirely in white, the
installation compels visitors to recognize the enormity of the
calculated architectural decisions which culminated in the creation of
a death chamber, and the reconstructed elements serve as silent
material witnesses to the horrors of Auschwitz.</div>
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<div><a
href="http://www.rom.on.ca/en/evidence">www.rom.on.ca</a></div>
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