Inrecentyears,alittle-knownresearchgroupnamedForensicArchitecturebeganusingnovelresearchmethodstoundertakeaseriesofinvestigationsintohumanrightsabuses.Today,thegroupprovidescrucialevidenceforinternationalcourtsandworkswithawiderangeofactivistgroups,NGOs,AmnestyInternational,andtheUN.Beyondsheddingnewlightonhumanrightsviolationsandstatecrimesacrosstheglobe,ForensicArchitecturehasalsocreatedanewformofinvestigativepracticethatbearsitsname.Thegroupusesarchitectureasanopticaldevicetoinvestigatearmedconflictsandenvironmentaldestruction,aswellastocross-referenceavarietyofevidencesources,suchasnewmedia,remotesensing,materialanalysis,witnesstestimony,andcrowd-sourcing.InForensicArchitecture,EyalWeizman,thegroup’sfounder,provides,forthefirsttime,anin-depthintroductiontothehistory,practice,assumptions,potentials,anddoublebindsofthispractice.Thebookincludesanextensivearrayofimages,maps,anddetaileddocumentationthatrecordstheintricateworkthegrouphasperformed.Includedinthisvolumearecasestudiesthattraversemultiplescalesanddurations,rangingfromtheanalysisoftheshrapnelfragmentsinaroomstruckbydronesinPakistan,thereconstructionofacontestedshootingintheWestBank,thearchitecturalrecreationofasecretSyriandetentioncenterfromthememoryofitssurvivors,ablow-by-blowaccountofaday-longbattleinGaza,andaninvestigationofenvironmentalviolenceandclimatechangeintheGuatemalanhighlandsandelsewhere.Weizman’sForensicArchitecture,stunningandshockinginitscriticalnarrative,powerfulimages,anddaringinvestigations,presentsanewformofpublictruth,technologically,architecturally,andaestheticallyproduced.Theirpracticecallsforatransformativepoliticsinwhicharchitectureasafieldofknowledgeandamodeofinterpretationexposesandconfrontsever-newformsofstateviolenceandsecrecy.
NGOs ARCHITECTURE PRACTICE provides ALITTLE
