The multidisciplinary research group Forensic Architecture uses digital, architectural research methods to study sites of urban violence, destruction and human rights’ violation. They recently started engaging with the subject of cultural heritage sites under threat and developed a novel approach that is informing new preservation practices in Ukraine. In this interview we discussed with researcher Sarah Nankivell the foundations of their critical approach to cultural heritage, along with the potential behind the digital reconstruction of endangered archaeological sites in Palestine. Forensic Architecture’s recent project on the Living Archaeology in Gaza not only raises important questions on the values that local populations could ascribe to digitally reconstructed and otherwise inaccessible cultural heritage sites, but also how an “open-source archaeology” could trigger international, political action as the destruction of cultural heritage is still considered a war crime.
KOOZ The project “Living Archaeology in Gaza” has not been commissioned by any specific organization. We were, therefore, wondering what prompted the research on this subject? What are the major outcomes of this research?
SN We were originally approached by a journalist investigating the origin of some ancient antiquities that were showing up in London auction houses, after being found by fishermen of the coast of Gaza. She asked us to help trace their route from Gaza to London, which we felt we were not qualified to do, but we began to look at the excavation records of the nearby site undertaken by a French-Palestinian cooperation in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and to analyse the resultant archaeological surveys and photographs alongside other open-source material. It was necessary to use a wide variety of source material to investigate the site, as the ancient layers have since been covered for their protection and are no longer accessible. Through this process, the site became for us a unique lens through which to understand the contemporary condition of Gaza as a continuation of the many remarkable historical layers that exist there.
In terms of major outcomes of the research, we identified several threats to the site and to nearby Palestinian lives, including evidence of the bomb craters directly above buried archaeological remains. A legal report written by Al-Haq – based in part on the findings of our investigation – argues that international law dictates that such attacks against archaeological sites and historic monuments may amount to war crimes. We were working on this project at the time of the May 2021 offensive on Gaza and we knew it was important to incorporate this bombardment as colleagues in Gaza told us about bombs which fell within the known perimeter of the site. We wanted to show how years of such bombings, as well as the humanitarian disaster inflicted on Palestinian communities by the decades-long Israeli occupation and siege – on top of advancing coastal erosion and necessary development within the enforced densification of Gaza – have placed this unique site under existential threat.
This was the first time that Forensic Architecture conducted what we call “open-source archaeology”.
We also had major methodological outcomes – this was the first time that Forensic Architecture conducted what we call “open-source archaeology”. It is a kind of archaeological excavation using the same methodologies that we use to investigate human rights violations and other forms of violence in urban areas. We collected a wide range of open-source materials, anything we could get our hands on, as well as conducting fieldwork and interviews, and then built a 3D model of each historic layer in order to synthesise all these materials and construct a narrative of the ancient and contemporary history of the site.
Hellenistic Emporium. Image: École Biblique, Mission Archéologique de Gaza: Coopération Franco-Palestinienne 1995-2005, p. 182-183.
KOOZ The 3D reconstruction of cultural heritage sites is often used for documentation, heritage listing and dissemination. It is rarely, if never, used to raise political or legal issues. Has your research triggered any political or international action on this matter? Also, what are the limits of international heritage organisations on endangered sites like the one in Gaza?
SN In our report we mentioned how the listing process of groups like UNESCO is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, if a site is listed it may benefit from various resources and layers of protection. On the other hand, the criteria of “outstanding universal value” on which that listing process is based is rooted in a project of colonisation that puts Western values at the centre of the heritage process. It determines which sites we remember and which sites, places and time periods are considered central to human history. In the context of Palestine this point is particularly important because archaeology in the region has deep colonial roots, prioritising particular places and periods of time and disregarding others, as well as displacing and exploiting cultures on the surface. In our report we mention how, in this way, archaeology has often served to decontextualize, sanitise and disconnect sites from their daily realities.
Moreover, when we talk about archaeological sites in conflict it is important whether or not the site is known to be one of historical significance, as it can be a determining factor in international law whether or not a party to the conflict knew about the site. In this project, we wanted to show each historical layer as being equal, from the ancient past right up to the present. Each of these layers represents the history and material condition of the people who have lived in this place, which is one of the longest continuously inhabited places on earth. So, I think it was very important to create a deep context for the site, to show how these elements are related and draw attention to the fact that this remarkable site is there.
In our report we mention how archaeology has often served to decontextualize, sanitise and disconnect sites from their daily realities.
It is also important to note how the legal report produced by Al-Haq shows Israel’s differential treatment of archaeology: Palestinian sites are destroyed, disregarded and damaged, while other very similar sites in Israel’s territorial control of equal historical significance – that are located along the same coastline and from the same time periods – have been preserved and promoted as major tourist attractions. Al Haq’s report showed precisely how this is a key component of Israeli apartheid and calls on the ICC to consider this destruction as amounting to war crimes, and to consider their contribution to apartheid as a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute.
The red circles indicate evidence of damage on or near the site. Image: Forensic Architecture, 2022. Satellite Image: © CNES (2018), Distribution Airbus DS/Spot Image © FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE, 2022
3D model of the excavations of the ancient Greco-Roman city of Anthedon. Image: Forensic Architecture, 2022 © FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE, 2022
KOOZ You previously mentioned that you decided to highlight the importance of each historical layer found. This clear decision, along with the forensic, digital reconstruction of an endangered cultural heritage site could be considered an alternative preservation approach or archaeological practice. Do you think your work could impact future research methods or practices in the field of cultural heritage preservation?
SN Our 3D model shows how such digital reconstruction processes can be used as a tool to synchronise and synthesise a wide variety of materials pertaining to the site and to examine its ancient and contemporary conditions as a continuous narrative, including, in the case, the threats to the lives of the people who live there. This innovative use of 3D and open-source techniques could be used in a variety of ways to preserve and connect other materials, as well as even the memories, values and identities that people may associated with a given site or object. There is great potential to use these methods to tell any number of different narratives and to - maybe it's cliché - but to bring the past and the present together.
This innovative use of 3D and open-source techniques could be used in a variety of ways to preserve and connect other materials, as well as even the memories, values and identities that people may associated with a given site or object.
Exposed archaeological remnants located within a 3D model of the coastline. Image: Forensic Architecture, 2022 with photo by Hazem Balousha, Gaza, 24 October 2018 © FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE, 2022
KOOZ Indeed, I was wondering if you could tell us briefly what are these narratives? Have you thought about the (potentially public) physical or virtual access to these cultural sites?
SN As the site has since been covered for its protection and has, in some instances, likely been damaged by Israeli bombardment, coastal erosion and necessary development, it is not publicly accessible. However, over the course of our research it was very clear that the Palestinian people who live near this site are well aware and very proud of this heritage. When the lead archaeologist Jean-Baptiste Humbert was sent to Gaza as part of a French-Palestinian archaeological cooperation, he was first shown the remains of these ruins on the coastline by the children who were living in the nearby Al-Shati refugee camp. By making this site digitally accessible, we hoped to not only show the beauty of the site, but also its history and context and the daily threats it faces.
By making this site digitally accessible, we hoped to not only show the beauty of the site, but also its history and context and the daily threats it faces.
KOOZ It would be interesting to further expand FA’s engagement with digital 3D modelling, as we are also exploring the subject of virtual worldmaking in architecture. In your case the reconstruction of virtual environments is instrumental to forensic investigation. Is there any other potentially virtuous approach to virtual spatial making or projective media practices that architects should pursue in your opinion?
SN It is a key theoretical underpinning of Forensic Architecture that as contemporary conflicts largely happen in urban environments, architecture has a crucial role to play in investigating such violence. We use the tools of architecture in order to recreate and analyse these spaces, as in this project we use 3D modelling of the built environment to synthesise and verify a wide variety of data associated with the violence occurring at this site, including testimonies, images and videos. It helps us to bring together all those different types of media and to form a cohesive narrative by arranging information spatially and temporally in a way that makes really clear what, where and when things happen.
In a heritage context, digital models also have a crucial role to play particularly in the case cultural sites which are damaged or lost, or perhaps sites that do not have a robust infrastructure to support access to them. We, as humans, have always ascribed values to heritage and I think there is a real potential for these 3D models to hold people's memories, meanings, and values alongside the history and context of the site.
Using image mapping and 3D modelling, FA recreated the ancient city wall using archival photographs. Image: Forensic Architecture, 2022 © FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE, 2022
The layers of the site, ancient past to present. A mosque and public sports facilities, built above the site, can be seen on the right. Image: Forensic Architecture, 2022 © FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE, 2022
KOOZ Finally, given FA’s long engagement with issues pertaining to state violence, are you involved or planning to work on research projects on the current war in Ukraine?
SN Yes, we are. We are supporting a local group from Ukraine to develop tools and techniques for undertaking open-source investigations. In fact, our first collaboration together is examining the destruction of a heritage site in Ukraine, and they are using similar open-source methods to bring together the archival material, research, and modelling to tell the story of this site from past to present.
Cover image copyright: Drone footage is used to create a point-cloud. Image: Forensic Architecture, 2022 with drone footage by Ain Media Gaza, 2018 © FORENSIC ARCHITECTURE, 2022.
Bio
Forensic Architecture (FA) is a research agency, based at Goldsmiths, University of London, investigating human rights violations including violence committed by states, police forces, militaries, and corporations. FA works in partnership with institutions across civil society, from grassroots activists, to legal teams, to international NGOs and media organisations, to carry out investigations with and on behalf of communities and individuals affected by conflict, police brutality, border regimes and environmental violence.
Francesca Romana Forlini is an architect, Ph.D, editor, writer and educator whose research is located at the intersection of feminism, cultural sociology and architectural history and theory. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the New York Institute of Technology and Parsons The New School in New York. She worked as chief editor at KoozArch, where she is currently a contributor. She is a Fulbrighter ed alumna of Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and the RCA.
