BOMB CLOUD ATLAS

Forensic Architecture, 2016

Dissecting the violence of war

Forensic Architecture is a research agency based at Goldsmiths, University of London, that creates navigable 3D models and interactive maps of environments undergoing conflict for use in legal and political forums, including the United Nations. Their work includes the use of mainstream and social media images of bomb clouds to create 3D models, which help to approximate the date and size of bomb strikes, aiding human rights agencies to compile valuable reports about conflict zones. A bomb cloud is made of everything a building once was – concrete, plaster, soil, glass, bodies – and is thus architecture in gaseous form, an event as monument that exists for seven to ten minutes. If modeled correctly, it can provide valuable evidence in legal cases. This exhibit was designed by Eyal Weizman, Stefan Laxness, Christina Varvia, and A Satellite Studio.

Image courtesy of Forensic Architecture.