In the course of our daily reporting, we often uncover unusual projects, places, or connections that don't make the final cut. Instead of keeping it to ourselves, we're pleased to share our weekly Architrivia.

On the morning of August 6, 1945, the USAAF dropped "Little Boy," the first of two atomic bombs to be deployed in Japan, on the city of Hiroshima. The blast and related nuclear fallout obliterated the city centre and killed a total of 140,000 civilians. Devastating by any measure, the initial blast was the equivalent of 12,500 tons of TNT, more than enough to destroy over 90 percent of all structures within 600 metres of the impact zone. While the city was left in ruins, there was one structure that came out of the fray largely intact. What became known as the "Genbaku Dome," or "Atomic Bomb Dome" in English, survived along with the skeleton of its iconic dome, which has remained for the last 71 years as a symbol of war and peace within Japan.

Genbaku Dome, as viewed in the aftermath of the bombing in 1945, public domain archival image

The closest building to the hypocentre of the blast to remain standing, the 1915-built Product Exhibition Hall, designed by Czech architect Jan Letzel on the occasion of the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition (HMI), is the structure that became forever after known as the Genbaku Dome. The building today has far outlived its original use, though the structure was only 30 years old when it was destroyed.

Product Exhibition Hall, as it appeared in 1933, public domain archival image

Following the war, the Genbaku Dome was allowed to stay standing in place, its burnt out shell left as a permanent reminder of the horrors of war and of the lasting peace which its end promised to deliver. While the structure was more or less left to weather naturally immediately following the war, the creation of the Hiroshima Peace Park around the grounds of the former Product Exhibition Hall was begun in 1950. The ruins were officially renamed by City Council in 1966 as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. Known from then on as the Genbaku Dome, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial has been the site of annual memorial services for more than half a century.

Genbaku Dome as it appears today, image by Flickr user Ian n Teresa via Creative Commons

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996, the Genbaku Dome and associated Hiroshima Peace Park have long since become part of the urban fabric. Hiroshima today is a modern metropolis more than a million strong, Honshu Island's largest city, and Japan's official City of Peace since 1949. It has been central to global nuclear disarmament efforts for over 60 years. Today a symbol of peace, the Genbaku Dome remains a testament to the enduring horrors of war.

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