Top human rights award for Forensic Architecture
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Goldsmiths research agency Forensic Architecture has won a prestigious human rights award in recognition of its pioneering work.
Projection mapping techniques used to recreate the Grenfelll Tower fire
The group received the award from the Right Livelihood organisation, which aims to “honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today”.
The award’s judges made Forensic Architecture a Right Livelihood Laureate 2024 “for pioneering digital forensic methods to ensure justice and accountability for victims and survivors of human and environmental rights violations”.
Housed in Goldsmiths’ Department of Visual Cultures and founded in 2010, Forensic Architecture has led the development of new methodologies that combine technology with human rights advocacy.
The group uses cutting-edge technology to recreate and map events using documentary evidence and witness testimony to forensically analyse incidents.
They have conducted more than 100 investigations on behalf of affected communities, uncovering truths about events both historic, such as the German colonial genocide in Namibia, and current, like the 2017 fire at Grenfell Tower in London.
This expertise is shared with Goldsmiths’ MA Research Architecture, with scholars studying directly with the Forensic Architecture team.
The Right Livelihood Awards are known as the “alternative Nobel Prize” with this year attracting 176 nominees from 72 countries. In total four winners are announced every year, with nearly 200 Laureates recognised since the awards were founded in 1980.
We work on a principle that we call ‘the long duration of the split second’.We believe that looking at micro details can open a doorway to understanding broader historical, political and cultural contexts.
Professor Eyal Weizman, Forensic Architecture founder
He added: “Forensic architecture emerged out of a necessity of understanding that investigations required building social relations and working in a situated way – in place, putting oneself on the ground.”
Professor David Oswell, Pro-Warden for Research and Knowledge Exchange at Goldsmiths, said: “Communities and individuals supported by Forensic Architecture know how valuable their work is, and we warmly welcome formal recognition of this by the Right Livelihood organisation.
“We are very proud to provide a home for the group which has made vital interventions is some of the world’s most high-profile events through its pioneering approach.”