Forensic Architecture

Sometimes, the most crucial information captured by a video is not the image, but the sounds that are heard ‘off camera’. Similarly, radio communications by police or other emergency services personnel can contain vital evidence, either in what is said, or what is heard in the background.

Forensic Architecture uses a number of techniques to employ audio recordings for investigative ends, including synchronisation, identification of weapons, or using ‘ear-witness’ testimony and ‘echo profiling’ to reconstruct spaces and events through sound.

I.120  The Massacre of Aid Workers in Tel al-Sultan

Date of Incident
23 Mar 2025
Location
Tel al-Sultan, Gaza
Forums
Human Rights Report, Media
In Partnership With
Earshot
Summary
On 23 March 2025 in Tel al-Sultan, Gaza, Israeli forces massacred fifteen Palestinian aid workers travelling in clearly marked humanitarian vehicles, later burying their bodies and vehicles in a shallow mass grave. FA and Earshot worked with the Palestine Red Crescent Society and survivors of the massacre to reconstruct the incident with unprecedented precision.

SP.104  The Killing of Hind Rajab · Supported Project ↗

Date of Incident
29 Jan 2024
Location
Gaza City, Gaza
Forums
Media
Commissioned By
Al Jazeera
Summary
On 29 January 2024, in Gaza City, Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl, pleaded over the phone for emergency workers to rescue her from a bullet-ridden car. Her body was found two weeks later, alongside the bodies of six of her family members. FA was asked by Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines to investigate the circumstances of their killing.

I.103  The Grenfell Tower Fire: Situated Testimonies

Date of Incident
14 Jun 2017
Location
Grenfell Tower, North Kensington, London
Forums
Citizens' Tribunal, Media
Commissioned By
A coalition of lawyers representing bereaved families, survivors and affected local residents
Summary
The Grenfell Tower Fire was a generational tragedy for London and the UK, ultimately claiming 72 lives. Using a technique called 'situated testimony', we produced seven video interviews with bereaved family members, survivors, and nearby residents, aided by a 3D model of the tower and its surrounding environment. These interviews were screened for the first time as part of Grenfell Testimony Week.

Israeli Disinformation: al-Ahli Hospital

Date
17 Oct 2023
Summary
The devastating explosion at the al-Ahli hospital came to epitomise the information war surrounding Israel’s post-7 October invasion of Gaza. Working from open source evidence, we used techniques including 3D trajectory analysis to disprove fundamental claims made by Israel about the cause of the blast.

Shireen Abu Akleh: The Extrajudicial Killing of a Journalist | Extended Report

Date
11 May 2022
Summary
This comprehensive written report supports our investigation into our joint investigation with Al-Haq's FAI Unit into the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, detailing the methodologies we employed and including a step-by-step breakdown of the visual, audio and spatial analysis we undertook to come to each of our investigation’s conclusions.

I.87  Shireen Abu Akleh: The Extrajudicial Killing of a Journalist

Date of Incident
11 May 2022
Location
Jenin, Palestine
Forums
Legal Process, United Nations, Human Rights Report
In Partnership With
Al-Haq, Al Haq’s Forensic Architecture Investigation Unit
Summary
On 11 May 2022, while reporting on a raid by Israeli occupying forces on the Jenin refugee camp, Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akhleh was fatally shot by a convoy of IOF military vehicles. With Al-Haq, we showed that she and her colleagues were explicitly targeted in an unprovoked attack by an IOF marksman despite being identifiable as press, and that she was deliberately denied medical aid.

SP.81  Racist Terror Attack in Hanau: The Police Operation · Supported Project ↗

Date of Incident
19 Feb 2020
Location
Hanau, Germany
Forums
Exhibition, Media, Parliamentary Inquiry
Commissioned By
Initiative 19. Februar
Summary
On 19 February 2020, nine people were murdered in a racist terror attack in Hanau, Germany. After the attack, the perpetrator went to his house, where he killed his mother, and himself. Police knew the perpetrator’s address early on but did not storm the house for almost five hours. We were asked by the victims’ families and the Initiative 19. Februar to examine how the police operation unfolded.

I.75  The Black Boxes of Disappearance: Enforced Disappearance in the Siege of the Palace of Justice

Date of Incident
06 Nov 1985 – 07 Nov 1985
Location
Bogotá, Colombia
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition, Media, Truth Commission, Web Platform
Commissioned By
The Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence and Non-Repetition of Colombia
Summary
Our investigation examines the actions of the Colombian security forces in the aftermath of the 1985 siege of the Palace of Justice that resulted in the enforced disappearance of cafeteria workers, students, visitors, guerrillas, and judges.

I.61  The Killing of Muhammad al-Arab

Date of Incident
02 Mar 2020
Location
Evros/Meriç river delta
Forums
Legal Process, Media, Parliamentary Inquiry
In Partnership With
Self-Initiated
Summary
When Turkey mobilized refugees and migrants to cross into Greece, reports emerged that Greek forces had responded with live fire, causing casualties. We confirmed that, despite Greece’s denials, automatic rounds were fired from the Greek side of the border and one person, Muhammad al-Arab, was shot dead near a group of armed Greek soldiers.

I.55  The Killing of Muhammad Gulzar

Date of Incident
04 Mar 2020
Location
Kastanies/Pazarkule border crossing, Evros/Meriç region
Forums
Media
In Partnership With
Bellingcat, Lighthouse Reports
Summary
After Turkey started encouraging refugees and migrants to cross the Evros/Meriç land border into Greece, reports emerged that Greek forces had responded with live fire, causing multiple casualties. Despite Greece’s official denials, we confirmed that live rounds were indeed fired from the Greek side of the border, that several people were wounded, and one person, Muhammad Gulzar, was killed.

Detecting Tear Gas: Vision and Sound

Date
20 Feb 2020
Summary
This study documents several case studies undertaken by Forensic Architecture researchers and OSS contributors. Following on from research we released in early 2019, in the course of the year we have expanded our research in human rights and machine learning, with a particular focus on applications of synthetic data.

I.36  The Murder of Pavlos Fyssas

Date of Incident
18 Sep 2013
Location
Athens, Greece
Forums
Legal Process, Media
Commissioned By
Lawyers for the Fyssas family
Summary
The murder of an anti-fascist rapper by a member of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn could bring an end to the group's political ambitions. We analysed CCTV and police audio recordings to reconstruct the events of the night. Our evidence, presented to an Athens courtroom, poses difficult questions for the Greek police.

I.24  The Murder of Halit Yozgat

Date of Incident
06 Apr 2006
Location
Kassel, Germany
Forums
Citizens' Tribunal, Exhibition, Media, Parliamentary Inquiry
Commissioned By
The People's Tribunal 'Unraveling the NSU Complex'
Summary
Halit Yozgat was murdered by neo-Nazis at the desk of his internet café in Kassel, Germany, while a state intelligence agent was sitting just metres away. The agent claimed he didn’t hear the gunshots, didn’t smell the gunpowder, and didn’t see the body. Using digital models and 1:1 physical reconstructions, we tested those claims.

I.18  Torture in Saydnaya Prison

Date of Incident
01 Jan 2011 – 08 Dec 2024
Location
Saydnaya, Syria
Forums
Legal Process, Exhibition, Media, Web Platform
Commissioned By
Amnesty International
Summary
Since the start of the Syrian Civil War, thousands of Syrians have been detained, tortured and executed at the notorious Saydnaya Prison. Using architectural and acoustic modelling, we worked with five survivors to rebuild the prison and explore their memories of life and death inside its walls.

I.12  The Killing of Nadeem Nawara and Mohammed Abu Daher

Date of Incident
15 May 2014
Location
Beitunia, West Bank, Occupied Palestinian Territories
Forums
Exhibition, Media
Commissioned By
DCI Palestine
Summary
When Israeli military police killed two Palestinian teenagers, the event was recorded by security cameras, US news teams, and photographers. Using that footage, our audio and image analysis exposed a tactic by which Israeli personnel disguise live rounds as rubber-coated ‘non-lethal’ munitions.