US Terror Tribune

A new approach to architectural design –based on an opposition to the dominance of orthogonal and vertical forms– is used for the design of the US Terror Tribunal in New York City. This opposition is based on the outcome of the mappings/ analysis made in an earlier phase and on the argument, developed by Paul Virilio, that there is an explicit relationship between these orthogonal and vertical forms of architecture and the historical as well as structural relations between cities and terror/ war. The presence of fear plays an essential role in the design of the US Terror Tribune by blurring the boundaries/ borders between divine enchantment/ curiosity and divine fear. The public urban landscape is based on military ideas of optical camouflage this project attempts to create an invisible architecture that uses camouflage patterns to create a disturbance in the visual field of the urban environment. The building structure itself is designed with an inherent tension, both attracting and repulsing its visitors.