A New Architecture of Justice: Dan Kiley's Design for the Nuremberg Trials’ Courtroom

31 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2018 Last revised: 26 Apr 2018

See all articles by Mark Somos

Mark Somos

Harvard University - Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics; Harvard Law School

Morgan Gostwyck-Lewis

Independent

Date Written: April 19, 2018

Abstract

Courtroom 600 in the Nuremberg Palace of Justice is one of the most iconic sites in the history of international criminal law. Yet the extensive literature on Courtroom 600 neglects the original 1945 drawings of the architect Dan Kiley, now in the archives of the Harvard Design School. This article revises our understanding of Courtroom 600 in light of these drawings. Among other findings it argues that Kiley, rather than Jackson or the OSS, was the main source of design decisions; that the secondary literature overemphasises film at the expense of architecture; and that the design of both Courtroom 600 and the entire reconstructed Palace of Justice offer valuable insights into this key moment in the history of international law.

Keywords: Nuremberg trials, architecture of justice, Dan Kiley, international criminal law

Suggested Citation

Somos, Mark and Gostwyck-Lewis, Morgan, A New Architecture of Justice: Dan Kiley's Design for the Nuremberg Trials’ Courtroom (April 19, 2018). Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law & International Law (MPIL) Research Paper No. 2018-04, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3165374 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3165374

Mark Somos (Contact Author)

Harvard University - Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics ( email )

124 Mount Auburn Street
Suite 520N
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Harvard Law School ( email )

1563 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Morgan Gostwyck-Lewis

Independent ( email )

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