Red Cross captures ‘human cost of war’ in 3D exhibition

From the destruction of Mosul’s largest hospital to the razing of part of Aleppo’s historic Old Bazaar, thousands of images taken by Red Cross volunteers have been put together to show the “human cost of war”.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has created an immersive experience to show the haunting aftermath of urban conflict by layering 35,000 individual photographs in the first-ever photogrammetric 3D exhibition of the interiors of war-damaged buildings.

The Broken Cities digital experience takes viewers on a journey through 3D models of Mosul Ibn Sina Teaching Hospital, Aleppo’s Old Bazaar and a tower block in Gaza using witnesses’ stories of “endurance, solidarity and revival that emerge from the rubble”.

By telling stories of the continuing struggles to rebuild lives, the Red Cross hopes it will raise awareness of the impact of using heavy explosive weapons in populated areas.

“A change of mindset and status quo is urgently needed to reduce the devastating effects of urban warfare war on civilians which are foreseeable and largely preventable,” the Red Cross told The National.

“Despite mounting evidence of the devastating harm warfare in urban areas causes to civilians, global efforts made to address the humanitarian consequences of urban warfare and repeated calls for action have not translated into major improvements.

“Protecting and minimising the suffering of civilians must be at the centre of military policies, practices and training. The fundamental principles of international humanitarian law must be rigorously applied before, during and after fighting.”

In Mosul, the Ibn Sina Teaching Hospital, the city’ largest, was damaged during the battle to liberate the northern Iraqi city from ISIS in 2017.

When Iraqi forces arrived at Al Salam Hospital in the east of the city, they faced a massive ambush by ISIS fighters.

Air strikes reduced most of the buildings on the site to rubble.

The historic Old City at the centre of Aleppo saw some of the worst battles of Syria’s civil war.

Government forces finally took it from rebel control in December 2016, in a siege that left the eastern half of Aleppo and much of the Old City, a Unesco world heritage site, in ruins.

Aleppo’s souq dating as far back as the 1300s was severely damaged.

The Red Cross hopes the exhibit will emphasise the importance of respecting international humanitarian law and to avoid the use of heavy weapons in populated areas.