Tag: forensic-architecture | ArchDaily

UIA 2026 Barcelona Reveals Program Structured Around Six Thematic “Becomings”

Reyyan Dogan — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 06:30:00 +0000

More than three decades after previously hosting the event, Barcelona is set to welcome the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona (UIA2026BCN), bringing the global architectural community back to the city between 28 June and 2 July 2026. Organized under the theme "Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition," the Congress is expected to gather approximately 10,000 participants from over 130 countries, including practitioners, researchers, and students. Rather than being confined to a single venue, the event will unfold across multiple locations along the Mediterranean seafront, among them the Three Chimneys complex, positioning the city itself as an active platform for exchange, discussion, and public programming.

Expanding Practice: Architecture Think Tanks at the Intersection of Research and Design

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 07:30:00 +0000

In architecture, most practices revolve around delivering projects to clients. Offices are shaped by deadlines, budgets, and clear briefs. While this structure produces buildings, it rarely leaves space for architects to question broader issues — about how we live, how cities are changing, or what the future demands of design. But alongside this production-focused system, a quieter movement has emerged: studios, collectives, and foundations that prioritize research, experimentation, and reflection. These are the architecture think tanks — spaces designed not to build immediately, but to think first.

The UIA World Congress of Architects 2026 Barcelona Unveils Program and Speakers

Antonia Piñeiro — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 05:30:00 +0000

The UIA World Congress of Architects is an international event for architectural dialogue organised by the International Union of Architects (UIA, by its French acronym), a non-governmental organisation that unites national associations of architects from over 100 countries, representing more than one million professionals. The first UIA Congress of Architects, which also marked the institution's founding, was held in Lausanne in 1948 during the post-war reconstruction period. Since then, UIA congresses have been held every three years in a different city within a member country, serving as the organisation's main recurring event. In 2026, the Congress will be held in Barcelona, and UNESCO has consequently designated the city as the World Capital of Architecture 2026. Each Congress focuses on a key topic relevant to the profession, articulated through a central theme. Recent themes include Copenhagen 2023: "Sustainable Futures. Leave no one behind." and Rio 2020–2021: "All the worlds. Just one World." The topic for 2026 is "Becoming. Architectures for a Planet in Transition," welcoming renowned figures in contemporary architectural thought and practice for a broad and critical overview of the possible futures of architecture.

Choreographing Space: Architecture and Dance as Interdisciplinary Practices

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 07:30:00 +0000

"Dance, dance… otherwise we are lost." This oft-cited phrase by Pina Bausch encapsulates not only the urgency of movement, but its capacity to reveal space itself. In her choreographies, space is never a neutral backdrop, it becomes a partner, an obstacle, a memory. Floors tilt, chairs accumulate, walls oppress or liberate. These are architectural conditions, staged and contested through the body. What Bausch exposes — and what architecture often forgets — is that space is not simply built, it is performed. Her work invites architects to think not only in terms of materials and forms, but of gestures, relations, and rhythms. It suggests that architecture, like dance, is ultimately about how we inhabit, structure, and emotionally charge the spaces we move through.

What is Architectural Forensics?

Rebecca Ildikó Leete — Sat, 18 Jun 2022 07:30:00 +0000

The term ‘Architectural Forensics’ varies in definition. In short, it refers to the investigation of the built environment, whether that be in relation to crime and injustice or an investigative process to discover the root cause of damage and deterioration in buildings. Often forensic architects are invited to identify potential issues and advise in how to avoid them. The role of this architect is to remain unbiased, identify issues within construction, determine potential causes and suggest solutions. They are to uncover factual evidence, which may aid in future construction or provide answers to issues associated with a particular built environment.

Eyal Weizman on Forensic Architecture: ''Mapping is Power''

Rebecca Ildikó Leete — Fri, 03 Jun 2022 05:30:00 +0000

“Since I remember myself, I have wanted to be an architect… I could see the way that neighborhoods were organized. I could see the separation. I could see the frontier areas between the Palestinian community and the Jewish majority,” expresses Eyal Weizman in conversation with Louisiana Channel, in regards to understanding the ‘political significance’ of architecture and the potential of the occupation as a critical tool for understanding the world.

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

Andreea Cutieru — Wed, 23 Mar 2022 05:30:00 +0000

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.

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

Nicolás Valencia — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 04:00:00 +0000

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.

Chicago Architecture Biennial Announces 2019 Early Highlight Contributors

Megan Schires — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 05:00:00 +0000

The third Chicago Architecture Biennial will occur from September 19, 2019, to January 5, 2020, and yesterday the first group of contributors to the 2019 edition and publication was announced. This year’s theme, “...and other such stories,” will bring together a multi-faceted and international exploration of architecture and the built environment. Newly commissioned projects for the Biennial will highlight issues including public housing, social justice, and the appropriation and preservation of the natural environment.

Architecture on Stage: Forensic Architecture

Katherine Allen — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 03:30:00 +0000

Eyal Weizman, director of Forensic Architecture, will lecture at the Barbican in cooperation with The Architecture Foundation discuss the group's practice combining architecture and digital forensics.

Forensic Architecture and Heatherwick Among Winners of the Beazley Designs of the Year 2018

Niall Patrick Walsh — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 09:00:00 +0000

Forensic Architecture has been crowned overall winner of the Beazley Designs of the Year 2018, with their exhibition “Counter Investigations.” The firm has undertaken sterling work in recent years, uncovering miscarriages of justice and international war crimes through architectural analysis of imagery, from official news, satellite footage, and crowdsourced information.

Alternative Ways for Architects to Architect

Vasundhra Aggarwal — Thu, 11 Oct 2018 07:00:00 +0000

The more architecture students that I converse with, the more I hear this common dissent amongst them: “I don’t want to become an architect.” Despite participating in long studio hours for a five-year professional degree, somehow very few peers actually want to become the kind of architects that create buildings.

How Berlin's Floating University Charts the Course for Future Architectural Education

George Kafka — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 07:00:00 +0000

This article was originally published on Metropolis Magazine as "How a DIY Floating Universiity in Berlin Could Be An Unorthodox Prototype for Design Education."

Forensic Architecture Shortlisted for the 2018 Turner Prize

Niall Patrick Walsh — Thu, 26 Apr 2018 14:00:00 +0000

The spatial investigation group Forensic Architecture has been nominated for the 2018 Turner Prize. Based at Goldsmiths University in London, the interdisciplinary group of architects, filmmakers, journalists, lawyers, and scientists have devoted their energy to investigating state and corporate violations worldwide.

Forensic Architecture to Create a 3D Simulation of the Grenfell Tower Fire with Crowdsourced Video

Collin Abdallah — Tue, 03 Apr 2018 08:00:00 +0000

Since the devastating Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, the people of London have been searching for an answer to the exact cause of the fire that killed 71 people. Now Forensic Architecture—the Goldsmiths, University of London-based research group headed by Eyal Weizman—seeks to aid in the search for answers with their new Grenfell Media Archive. This online crowdsourcing database intended to collect people's first-person accounts in order to map them onto a 3D model of the tower and analyze exactly what happened to the tower.

Watch Eyal Weizman Explain Forensic Architecture's Pioneering Investigatory Methods

AD Editorial Team — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 04:00:00 +0000

In this film produced by Vice, Eyal Weizman—director of London-based research agency Forensic Architecture—explains how his team have developed methods of investigating bombings in areas of conflict across the globe. Using cellphone footage, examining floor plans, and utilising road maps, Weizman brings together scientists, journalists, and graphic designers in order "to analyze destroyed buildings for evidence of human rights abuses."

Detective Architects: A Look Into Forensenic Architecture's Interdisciplinary Analysis of "Crime Scenes"

Eyal Weizman — Sun, 23 Oct 2016 09:30:00 +0000

This article was originally published on TiP, Balmond Studio and is republished here with permission.

Forensic Architecture Digitally Reconstruct Secret Syrian Torture Prison from the Memories of Survivors

Sabrina Santos — Wed, 17 Aug 2016 20:02:00 +0000

Forensic Architecture, a research agency based at the University of London, in collaboration with Amnesty International, has created a 3D model of Saydnaya, a Syrian torture prison, using architectural and acoustic modeling. The project, which was commissioned in 2016, reconstructs the architecture of the secret detention center from the memory of several survivors, who are now refugees in Turkey.