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Human Rights: The Latest Architecture and News

An Upcoming Exhibition at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art Showcases the Multidisciplinary Work of Forensic Architecture

An Upcoming Exhibition at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art Showcases the Multidisciplinary Work of Forensic Architecture - Featured Image
Wall paper from Rafah, 2015. The master drawing of the Rafah investigation including viewpoints and plume measurements from every photograph and video sourced. The base image is a Pléiades satellite photograph of eastern Rafah, taken on 1 August, 2014, 11:39am. Image © Forensic Architecture

The upcoming exhibition in The Architect's Studio series hosted by the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art presents the work of Forensic Architecture, a multidisciplinary research group operating at the intersection of architecture and investigative journalism. Led by architect Eyal Weizman, the collective of architects, artists, software developers, journalists, lawyers, and animators investigates and documents human rights violations across a wide range of global conflicts.The practice constructs models and virtual spaces to share a new perspective on specific events.

“Our Architecture Is Very Hostile and Not Very Hospitable”: Interview With Father Júlio Lancellotti

An architectural project conceived from the neoliberal system can only be hostile. That's what Father Júlio Lancellotti, an active figure in actions to support homeless people in São Paulo, says. His work at the head of Pastoral do Povo da Rua has deservedly received the attention of national and international media, as well as being frequently published on his own social networks, drawing the attention of the public and authorities to urgent issues of inequality, invisibility of the most vulnerable and the hostility of our architecture and public spaces.

Forensic Architecture’s Samaneh Moafi on Tear Gas Use in Chile: “Toxic Gas Is Not Only Colonizing the Public Space of Our Cities”

On October 18, 2019, a 4-cent increase on Santiago's Metro fare caused an uproar on the streets of the Chilean capital. The citizens' anger escalated quickly, leading to demands of immediate structural changes in the Chilean economic and social system. Alongside the people's call for change, daily clashes between protesters and the police led to excessive use of tear gas by the latter across the country.

Even though the use of tear gas is banned in warfare since 1925, police worldwide are allowed to use it for the sole purpose of scattering protesters, as had happened in Chile. The most iconic example can be seen in Plaza Dignidad (Dignity Square), previously known as Plaza Italia ahead of the social outbreak that erupted in the country: everyday, a camera records the activities around the iconic roundabout, capturing the constant and excessive use of lachrymatory gas every Friday.

'Body Absent', a Temporary Memorial to Raise Awareness About Human Rights

Human Rights Day is celebrated every year on the 10th of December. After visiting numerous sites that commemorate the scenes of regrettable crimes against humanity and violence, one common observation can be made: the place of memory is not only a building. In fact, it is more about the encounter, the appropriation, and the gesture.

Call for Entries: "Integrating Refugee Populations within Cities" - Place & Displacement Design & Policy Competition

IDeA's 2nd annual Place and Displacement 2018 Competition - "Integrating Refugee Populations within Cities" is now open! Register online at through February 1, 2018.

Is India's Plan to Build 100 Smart Cities Inherently Flawed?

The Indian Government’s Smart City Mission, launched in 2015, envisions the development of one hundred “smart cities” by 2020 to address the country’s rapid urbanization; thirty cities were added to the official list last week, taking the current total of planned initiatives to ninety. The $7.5-billion mission entails the comprehensive development of core infrastructure—water and electricity supply, urban mobility, affordable housing, sanitation, health, and safety—while infusing technology-based “smart solutions” to drive economic growth and improve the citizens’ quality of life in cities.

In a country bogged down by bureaucratic corruption, the mission has been commended for its transparent and innovative use of a nation-wide “City Challenge” to award funding to the best proposals from local municipal bodies. Its utopian manifesto and on-ground implementation, however, are a cause of serious concern among urban planners and policy-makers today, who question if the very idea of the Indian smart city is inherently flawed.