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Operation Sophia (code name: EUNAVFOR MED) is an EU military operation, which operated on the Mediterranean high seas (2015-2020) in response to migrants departing from Libya for Europe. Curiously, it operated without a use of force mandate, without a common-held policy narrative, without a Libyan partner government, and without much attention for its physical spaces of implementation in Brussels. This thesis is an invitation to consider the importance of these absences. For operation Sophia does not operate regardless of these absences: it operates as it does because of them.

In April 2019, an unusual group of artists and international legal academics gathered on an elegant square in The Hague to visit the former American Embassy. This brutalist icon, designed in the 1950s by Marcel Breuer, was recently abandoned by its original inhabitants. The ongoing transition of the building from highly secured embassy to public cultural centre makes for a moment to reflect on the meanings this space inspires. In this special section, we posit the building as a prism through which we probe the connections between art, architecture and international law. In line with the tradition of (re)invention embodied by Breuer's design, the section breathes experimentation. The contributions are eclectic, unconventional and rough round the edges. The section is structured as a route through the building with no particular order or hierarchy. The 'façade' functions as a somewhat natural starting point, thereafter, the reader is invited to choose her own route. All spaces that can be visited are actual spaces in the building and echo the source of inspiration of the contributor. We invite you to join us on our journey and to explore the special issue as you would explore and make sense of an abandoned building where traces of international law abound.

One of the most iconic and concrete encounters one can have with international law is to visit its institutional buildings. This article aims to shed light on the ambivalent aspirations reflected by the architectural design of the International Criminal Court in The Hague and the European Union buildings in Brussels. It provides a sightseeing tour through the architectural landscape of these two 'legal capitals' and explores the architectural embodiment of international law's imaginaries through discussing three main issues: (1) the representation of values and needs; (2) embeddedness within the city; (3) audience expectations. It argues that the physical sites of institutional buildings and the public events that take place at these sites are not trivial to the practice of international law. These sites and the activities and interactions on their grounds (re)produce stories that affect our understanding of what international institutions are and what they mean to us. In particular in the international setting, where institutional legitimacy is not a given, the building's architecture is an important means of communication. This article explores how the architectural design invites or discourages engagement and how it facilitates an encounter between the institutions and their multiple audiences.

The Museum of White Terror is a former political prison turned National Human Rights Museum in Taipei. We visit here as a group of international law students viewing the museum as a transnational legal actor of sorts. The literary genre this chapter engages with is that of the museum, specifically the museum guided tour. We view the guided tour as a moment of encounter in which the museum presents its carefully designed story. We contend that where the international legal status of Taiwan remains uncertain, the museum takes ownership of Taiwan's past in pursuit of an alternative diplomacy. We thus view the story of this museum as a plea for Taiwanese sovereignty and ultimately independence.