Forensic Architecture is an interdisciplinary research agency based in Goldsmiths, University of London that uses architectural techniques and technologies to investigate state violence and human rights violations. Founded in 2010, it employs a team of architects, software developers, investigative journalists, and lawyers who work collaboratively both in generating and applying methods of spatial analysis and digital modeling to incidents of violence and disaster. Their work is generally commissioned in collaborative partnerships with other organizations in the human rights field. As a means of publicizing their reports, Forensic Architecture often organizes detailed exhibitions in museums or other public spaces. Often their commissioned investigations and featured exhibitions provide an additional source of revenue for the organization.

Theory of Change

The contributions of technologies and skills of professional communities to civil society opens up avenues for novel fact-finding approaches in situations of human right violations.

Activities

Among a series of other initiatives, Forensic Architecture has been recently involved in investigating the Israel-Hamas war. A report which they released early in 2024 leverages 3D models to reconstruct key physical sites targeted in Gaza which refute visual evidence provided to the International Court of Justice by the Israeli legal team. In July 2023, they also published an investigation regarding the sinking of the migrant vessel Adriana off the coast of Greece, which killed over 600 individuals coming from the coast of Libya. Digitally reconstructing the boat’s trajectory, Forensic Architecture eventually revealed inconsistencies in the Hellenic Coast Guard’s account of the incident.

Results

Forensic Architecture’s investigations have been utilized in a number of  venues. In 2012 for instance, the organization reported to a meeting of states party to the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons concerning the use of white phosphorus munitions by Israeli forces on Gaza in 2008 and 2009. Their work has been used in legal proceedings in jurisdictions around the world, including in the US, the UK, Germany, Greece, and Colombia. In 2021, Eyal Weizman, an Israeli national and Forensic Architecture’s founder, received a Peabody Award for his organization’s efforts.