ARTH 498 Special Topics in the History of Art and Architecture: Forensic Architecture

• Tuesdays, 2:45PM-5:30 pm
• Instructor: Dr. Tracy Valcourt

In this course students will draw from select architectural and art histories to explore forensic architecture, an emergent investigative field developed at Goldsmiths, University of London, which is also home to the investigative agency, Forensic Architecture founded in 2010 by Israeli architect, Eyal Weizman. Students will be introduced to the mandate and methodologies of this interdisciplinary team, which includes architects, software developers, filmmakers, investigative journalists, artists, scientists, and lawyers. Through case studies and theory, students will learn how Forensic Architecture employs analytical methods that include, for example, 3-D modelling and witness testimony in the form of video or audio recordings to reconstruct spatial artifacts and built environments that are inscribed with scenes of violence to counter state-led narratives. Students will study key concepts developed by Weizman, such as how buildings can be used as historical measure; the dynamic nature of materiality; the potential for architecture and the built environment to operate as media; the witness embodiment of memory and trauma; and the complex relationships between testimony and evidence. These concepts will be explored through comparative readings on select topics from the Western history of art and architecture, such as Da Vinci’s exploratory drawings of cracks in architectural surfaces; Le Corbusier’s anthropomorphic notion of scale, the Modulor; theories of perspective; and the changing evidentiary status of photographs. As the work of Forensic Architecture is presented in both legal settings such as tribunals and in artistic arenas such as biennales and art museums, students will also be invited to reflect on the historical power of architectural spaces to shift definitions of art and evidence.