Lola Conte and Kishan San

Since 2010 Forensic Architecture has been using novel research methods to undertake a series of investigations into human rights abuses. The group uses architecture as an optical device to examine armed conflicts and environmental destruction, as well as to cross-reference a variety of evidence sources, such as new media, remote sensing, material analysis, witness testimony and crowdsourcing. Their practice calls for a transformative politics in which architecture as a field of knowledge and a mode of interpretation exposes and confronts ever-new forms of state violence and secrecy.Based at Goldsmiths, University of London, Forensic Architecture investigates human rights violations across the globe, including violence committed by states, police forces, militaries, and corporations. Providing crucial evidence for international courts, the agency works in partnership with institutions across civil society, from grassroots activists to legal teams, international NGOs and media organisations, Amnesty International and the UN to carry out investigations with and on behalf of communities and individuals affected by conflict, police brutality, border regimes and environmental violence. They also reflect on the political and cultural context of their work in the form of lectures, seminars, publications and exhibitions in art and cultural institutions. Forensic Architecture is part of the Technology Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Architectural analysis
Contemporary conflicts and human rights violations increasingly take place in urban areas, amongst homes and civilian neighbourhoods. The nature of urban war is such that parties in conflict wilfully blur the line between civilians and combatants. At the same time, those environments have become densely media-rich. The proliferation of smartphones has meant that human rights violations in conflict have never been so thoroughly documented. However, such cases can be complex, and understanding what has taken place can be challenging. Architectural analysis and digital modelling techniques enable the research team to unravel that complexity, and to present information in a convincing, precise, and accessible manner – qualities which are crucial for the pursuit of accountability. Their investigations also employ open-source investigation, 3D animations, cartographic platforms and immersive technologies, as well as documentary research, situated interviews and academic collaboration. Within these environments they locate and analyse photographs, videos, audio files and testimonies to reconstruct and analyse violent events. They also use their digital models as tools for interviewing survivors of violence, finding new ways to access and explore memories of trauma.Forensic Architecture’s daring investigations encompass many scales and durations, ranging from the analysis of the shrapnel fragments in a room struck by drones in Pakistan, the reconstruction of a contested shooting in the West Bank, the architectural recreation of a secret Syrian detention centre from the memory of its survivors, a blow-by-blow account of a daylong battle in Gaza, and an investigation of environmental violence and climate change in the Guatemalan highlands and elsewhere.Clearly defined criteria determine which investigations Forensic Architecture chooses to undertake. Firstly, an investigation must involve a human rights or environmental issue not otherwise adequately addressed by the state in which it took place. Secondly, there needs to be a spatial or architectural dimension that their techniques can engage with. Thirdly, the group also aims to take on cases that offer them an opportunity to develop new research techniques.

Emerging academic field
The Forensic Architecture team includes architects, software developers, filmmakers, investigative journalists, artists, scientists and lawyers. It has been led by Eyal Weizman, Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, since it was established in 2010 with the help of a European Research Council (ERC) grant. The team began to engage in case work and investigations while developing their research culture through a series of seminars at the Centre for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths. As an emerging academic field developed alongside the production and presentation of architectural evidence within legal and political processes, Forensic Architecture is the focus of an MA programme taught at the Centre for Research Architecture. As part of the programme, placement opportunities for students are offered in the Forensic Architecture studio.Eyal Weizman studied architecture at the Architectural Association, graduating in 1998. He received his PhD in 2006 from the London Consortium at Birkbeck, University of London. He is the founder and director of Forensic Architecture and professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, where in 2005 he founded the Centre for Research Architecture. In 2007 he set up, with Sandi Hilal and Alessandro Petti, the architectural collective DAAR in Beit Sahour, Palestine. He is the author of many books, including Hollow Land, The Least of all Possible Evils, Investigative Aesthetics, The Roundabout Revolutions, The Conflict Shoreline and Forensic Architecture. Eyal Weizman has held positions in many universities worldwide including Princeton, ETH Zurich and the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He is a member of the Technology Advisory Board of the International Criminal Court and of the Centre for Investigative Journalism.In 2019 Eyal Weizman was elected life fellow of the British Academy. In 2020 he received an MBE for ‘services to architecture’ and in 2021 the London Design Award. Forensic Architecture is the recipient of a Peabody Award for interactive media and the European Cultural Foundation Award for Culture.Both guests representing Forensic Architecture at the GK Talk studied at the Architectural Association, London. Lola Conte’s thesis investigated the implementation of technology in court, particularly the use of virtual links for defendants appearing remotely from spaces of incarceration. Her work at Forensic Architecture focuses on spatial research through various digital tools and techniques. Kishan San’s thesis sought to dissect the use of ecological protection zones by the US and the UK in order to maintain unlawful sovereignty over the Chagos Islands. His role at Forensic Architecture focuses on spatial investigation, utilising contemporary architectural tools / methodologies as analytical and optical devices. Before joining Forensic Architecture in 2019, he worked as an architectural assistant at Haworth Tompkins. He has also run critical design workshops internationally and continues to champion affordable critical design education with the School SOS.