Undocumented: The Architecture of Migrant Detention with Tings Chak

In the past six years, over 80,000 people have been jailed, without charge or trial, with no end in sight. This includes children, who are detained or are separated indefinitely from their caregivers. This is the reality of immigration detention in Canada - a reality that is violently invisibilized. Migrants are detained primarily because they are undocumented. Likewise, these sites of detention bare little trace —drawings and photos are classified; access is extremely limited. The detention centres, too, are undocumented.

Undocumented: The Architecture of Migrant Detention (published by Architecture Observer 2014) documents the banality and violence of the architecture in contrast to the stories of daily resistance among immigration detainees. This book explores migrant detention centres in Canada, the fastest growing incarceration sector in North America's prison industrial complex, and questions the role of architectural design in the control and management of migrant bodies in such spaces. Using the conventional architectural tools of representation, we situate, spatialize, and confront the silenced voices of those who are detained and the anonymous individuals who design spaces of confinement.

The work is grounded in collective grassroots organizing, primarily through No One Is Illegal - Toronto and the End Immigration Detention Network. The research and production of this book was part of a Master of Architecture thesis at the University of Toronto.

7pm
Friday, Nov. 7
Octopus Centretown
251 Bank St. 2nd Floor

This event is co-sponsored by OPIRG-Ottawa and End Immigration Detention Network.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tings Chak is a multidisciplinary artist trained in architectural design whose work draws inspiration from anti-colonial, migrant justice, prison abolition, and spatial justice struggles. She is an organizer with No One Is Illegal - Toronto and the End Immigration Detention Network.