Following the Grenfell Tower fire of 14 June 2017, Forensic Architecture, a multidisciplinary team of investigators based at Goldsmiths, University of London, launched an open ended investigation into the circumstances of the night of the fire.
The first part of the project is concerned with the thousands of videos of the fire that were taken by Londoners on their cameras and smartphones. Every one of those videos is a unique piece of evidence, containing information about the fire.
Forensic Architecture has started collecting these pieces of evidence and assembling them within a 3D model of Grenfell Tower, in order to create a powerful new resource for the public understanding of the events of Grenfell Tower fire.
Our investigators have developed techniques to geolocate and map footage onto a model of the tower By stitching multiple ‘mapped’ and geo-located videos together, Forensic Architecture will construct a 12 hour ‘3D video’ of the fire, mapped onto our architectural model of Grenfell Tower. This model will allow the user to investigate the fire, improving the public’s understanding of the course of the tragic events on the night. The model will sit within a web platform which will ultimately act as a freely available public resource.
To begin this project, we are inviting members of the public to share with us their video footage of the fire, at the following website:
Anybody with video footage of the fire is welcome to submit material, and in this way contribute to a collective project by the residents of London. Material can also be submitted through a workstation set up at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, from the 21 March until 6 May, where Forensic Architecture is holding it’s first UK exhibition.
The website will go live on March 21st, at the same time as the project is launched on Sky News. Forensic Architecture is grateful to Sky News for their early support of the project, which has included contributing their entire rushes from the day of the fire.
The circumstances of the Grenfell Tower fire are the subject of both a public inquiry and a criminal investigation. Forensic Architecture has consulted extensively to ensure that as the project sits productively alongside both, and we will strongly urge contributors to also share with the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and the Metropolitan Police any information that they share with Forensic Architecture.
‘Mapped’ videos will eventually sit within a navigable, interactive and timelined platform
What is Forensic Architecture?
Forensic Architecture is an investigative research agency based at Goldsmiths, University of London, working around the world in support of communities affected by state failure or violence, as well as with human rights organisations such as Amnesty International, and international institutions such as the UN and the International Criminal Court. ‘
Forensic architecture’ is also an emergent academic field that refers to the production and presentation of architectural evidence in legal forums, including courts, and for advocacy purposes. In developing this field, we generate unique and innovative techniques for spatial and media research and to put these at the service of human rights groups and international prosecutors.
Forensic Architecture Centre for Research Architecture, Goldsmiths, University of London www.forensic-architecture.org E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. T: +44 (0) 20 7078 5387
