That an expert’s report on the fire in the port of Beirut on August 4 is highlighted by art magazines is, for Lebanon, one more incongruity. The document in question, signed by Forensic Architecture, did not come out of an ordinary design office. Commissioned by the independent Egyptian news site Mada Masr, he stands up to the challenge of using amateur videos and photos taken with smartphones in an aesthetic but no less rigorous way.
The work, which could not be more hybrid, exploits raw information, intersects it with expert analyzes, to produce a document that can serve as proof when justice examines this disaster which has caused the death of more than 200 people and thousands of injured.
The shape and circulation of fumes
This spectacular video, published on November 17, details, second by second and for the first time, the double explosion in 3D modeling. “We gathered images and testimonies that had never been cross-checked and we synchronized them”, explains Samaneh Moafi, member of Forensic Architecture.
The color, shape and flow of fumes, for example, analyzed by Gareth Collett, an explosives expert working for the UN, identify four outbreaks of fire, as well as the precise locations of goods in the warehouse. “The revelation that the first plume appeared on the northeast side of the warehouse is in itself important as it may provide clues as to where and how the fire started,” says Sharif Abdel Kouddous, editor-in-chief at Mada Masr.
Immediately after the tragedy, this media, renowned for its seriousness, felt the need to renew its sources. Rather than contact one of the many NGOs used to the field survey, Sharif Abdel Kouddous contacted Forensic Architecture, a group of around twenty journalists, software developers, artists and architects based in France. Goldsmiths University, London. “Spatial reconstruction is an art form that can help open up new avenues of reflection and modes of inquiry, he says, adding that “Artists have always contributed to understanding the world around us ”.
Aggregate, cross and verify
When official truth arouses suspicion, is art the outcome? It’s hard to find more atypical than Forensic Architecture, this counter-investigation laboratory created in 2010 by the Israeli architect Eyal Weizman. His goal ? Track down violations of human rights in the world and crimes involving the responsibility of States. His method? Aggregate, cross-check and verify raw data to ultimately produce animations, interactive maps and navigable 3D models.
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