On October 09th, Eyal Weizman of London based research group Forensic Architecture lectured at Carnegie Mellon University. The work of Forensic Architecture deals with uncovering the highest level of human rights violations globally, operating in flux between activism and research. The work relies heavily on the use of visual representation and uses this representation as an aid in presenting truths.
The activism displayed through the work of Forensic Architecture is unique from that commonly associated with the term. Activism is not a singular action and can take on multiple forms. The multidisciplinary team of researchers, architects, journalists, and coders at Forensic Architecture are all involved in a collective activism. They research and forensically decipher events by stitching together multi-media pieces of information to uncover injustice and promote open source truth. Eyal and his team are involved in a highly meticulous and methodical way of disseminating, challenging, and presenting information within a complex network of players. Throughout the body of work the practice has undertaken, the use of technological methods and tools has been imperative to achieving high levels of accuracy and impactful results.
By doing so, they are not trying to solve single problems, rather formulate frameworks that can be replicable and available for use in future applications by any individual. This open source model of operating is an example for architects and activists in the field aiming to project their work to create a larger impact. Through the UDBS collaboration with IDeATe and the Reality Computing class at Carnegie Mellon University, we utilize methods of physical computing and visualization to assist us in creating and communicating replicable processes relating to material re-use and the future of housing. We aspire to operate and create methodologies that are as meticulously detailed and activist driven as the work Forensic Architecture develops.
