Neither words nor materiality are enough: The role of testimony in the preservation of an Argentine clandestine detention center

Abstract

The essay analyzes the efforts to preserve Club Atlético, a site that served as a clandestine detention, torture, and killing center under the Argentine civic-military dictatorship (1976–1983). Located in the south part of Buenos Aires, Club Atlético is a memory site in ruins: its materiality challenges architectural design conventions. Examining (1) historical artifacts, the (2) archeological excavation, and (3) a virtual reconstruction of Club Atlético, this article reveals the multiple ways in which a site of memory can be represented, beyond the traditional memorial. Focusing on these three scales, it explores the relationship between the many written and oral survivors’ testimonies and the material evidence retrieved from the site, while also recognizing the tensions that emerge from Club Atlético’s dual function as archeological site and space of memory. Ultimately, the article reveals, how testimony is used to draw physical and metaphorical boundaries between the site as a place of memory and the site as heritage.