1995-2015 Twentieth Anniversary of the European Court of Human Rights building
24 September 2015
To mark its 20th anniversary, the European Court of Human Rights is to hold an exhibition on the history of the Human Rights Building. As part of the proceedings Ivan Harbour will give a talk to its staff.
Commissioned in 1989, Richard Rogers Partnership won an open competition to design the building for the Conseil d’Europe. The brief was for a welcoming and humane building, which preserves the dignity of its users. It was completed in 1995 and is the hub from which the Court monitors respect for the human rights of 800 million Europeans in the 47 Council of Europe member States that have ratified the Convention.
The anniversary will coincide with the launch of the Days of Architecture Festival, organised by the European House of Architecture, which brings together 20 cities in France, Germany and Switzerland for a month of lectures, guided tours of contemporary buildings, exhibitions etc. The theme for the festival this year is ‘Lighting Architecture’ and Ivan Harbour has contributed a short article for the festival catalogue.