Name: Laura Simonsen
Track: Architecture
Studio: Complex Projects
Year: MSc3/4 / 2025
Type: Graduation Project
Tutor: Hrvoje Smidihen, Martin Grech, Jan van de Voort
Description:
The Territory on Trial project examines how courthouse and courtroom design structures power, access, and public participation. It explores the courtroom as a spatial arena where authority is staged and negotiated, revealing how architectural arrangements, seating, thresholds, visibility, shape behaviour and perceptions of justice. The project traces the evolution from open, communal settings to today’s enclosed and hierarchical environments, questioning how these shifts affect civic trust. Central to the research is the redesign of the courtroom itself: how alternative layouts and spatial strategies might foster transparency, inclusivity, and shared ownership ultimately addressing the question: Is it necessary for the Judge to sit on an elevated podium?