Meet Forensic Architecture, the architectural nominees of the 2018 Turner Prize shortlist
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

A recent, major exhibition at the ICA brought the work of Forensic Architecture to a wider audience; and today’s 2018 Turner Prize shortlist announcement confirmed it – Eyal Weizman and his team are onto something big. From their academic base at Goldsmiths, University of London, Forensic Architecture brings together a captivating mix of research, spatial studies, design and politics that made it to the shortlist of one of the world’s most coveted art accolades.
A 15-strong collective, the Forensic Architecture team consists of architects, artists and a variety of other disciplines, such as filmmakers, software developers, archaeologists, lawyers, journalists. Their investigations delve into how a building, or a space, can reveal clues that can be uncovered; in the same way a criminal pathologist examines a body to determine cause of death. Their innovative ways of design and image reading and analysis allow for a different way of documenting and preserving buildings and history. The practice’s explorations reach far and wide, including sites and events in Germany, Greece and Israel.
‘The jury praised Forensic Architecture for developing highly innovative methods for sourcing and visualising evidence relating to human rights abuses around the world, used in courts of law as well as exhibitions of art and architecture’, explains Tate Britain, in an earlier announcement.
This is not the first time the Turner Prize turns its attentions to architecture; Assemble’s 2015 win was the first similar case, paving the way for further nominations from the field.
The ICA show, ‘Counter Investigations: Forensic Architecture’, preceded by a participation at the prestigious Documenta 14 art exhibition in Athens, gave the Turner jury enough reason to nominate the ground-breaking team, but their work is far from over. Coming up this September, Forensic Architecture will represent the UK in the second edition of London’s Design Biennale at Somerset House. The team ‘will support and train members of the Yazidi people to collect, document and preserve evidence of destruction, genocide and enslavement perpetrated by Daesh (Islamic State) against the Yazda’, explain the organisers.
The 2018 Turner Prize winner will be announced during a dedicated ceremony in December. 'Exhibitions are important forums for making public crucial evidence of human rights violations and their production is an opportunity to support cases and causes', says Weizman. 'While it is an honour to have been chosen by such an important cultural institution as the V&A to represent the UK at the London Design Biennale, and to be recognised as a nominee for the 2018 Turner Prize, it is also a great responsibility to use these opportunities to best serve our investigations and those most affected by the human rights issues therein.'
Forensic Architecture’s reconstruction of the site of Halit Yozgat’s murder by a member of the neo-Nazi group, the National Socialist Underground. 2017
The studio’s Ayotzinapa online platform explores the events surrounding the disappearance of 43 students in the town of Iguala, Mexico, in 2014. 2017
Forensic Architecture’s 3D model of Saydnaya prison in Syria by Forensic Architecture, informed by the memories of survivors. 2016
The Goldsmiths based practice was featured in an exhibition at the ICA in London earlier in the year.
Model of Rafah, Gaza combining images and videos of bombing on 1 August, 2014. 2015
INFORMATION
For more information visit the Forensic Architecture website (opens in new tab)
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture Editor at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018) and Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020).
-
Glenmorangie unveils a whisky inspired by rugged Scottish forests
Glenmorangie’s A Tale of the Forest uses an ancient Highland method for drying barley to create a distinctive taste
By Mary Cleary • Published
-
Odile Mir: exploring the creative life of a self-taught polymath
Nonagenarian French artist Odile Mir is back for an encore, thanks to her granddaughter’s role in reissuing her modernist designs
By Amy Serafin • Published
-
Samuel Ross on the architectural influences behind his Acqua di Parma collaboration
Samuel Ross discusses the inspiration behind his redesign of Acqua di Parma’s iconic Colonia fragrance
By Mary Cleary • Published
-
Former builders’ yard transformed into a home and studio by Studio MacLean
This new project, a former builders’ yard in the Cotswolds, by Studio MacLean, showcases the design and build skills of Jason and Jenny Rose MacLean
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
London architecture exhibitions 2023: a guide to the best shows this month
Exciting, beautiful and thought-provoking London architecture exhibitions; here's our pick of the finest in town, to visit and enjoy this month
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Iconic music venue New Century returns to life in Manchester
Music venue New Century in Manchester is back in action following sensitive revamp by architects Sheppard Robson
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
The finest brutalist architecture in London and beyond
For some of the world's finest brutalist architecture in London and beyond, scroll below. Can’t get enough of brutalism? Neither can we.
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Charles Holland’s east London house refresh offers ‘playful conservation’
Charles Holland’s east London house design for Will Wiles and Hazel Tsao Wiles brings light, colour and flair to a Victorian restoration process
By Nick Compton • Published
-
Don’t Move, Improve! 2023 longlist and what it reveals for London homes
The Don’t Move, Improve! 2023 longlist has been announced, unveiling some 50 homes and swathes of creativity in London’s residential architecture
By Harriet Thorpe • Published
-
A redesigned staircase brings openness and light in London townhouse transformation
Townhouse of Seven Stories by Architensions uses a redesigned staircase to bring openness and light to a historic London home
By Nana Ama Owusu-Ansah • Published
-
‘Women’s Work: London’ celebrates architecture and International Women's Day
Action group Part W launches ‘Women's Work: London’, a project celebrating International Women’s Day and key projects by women in our built environment
By Ellie Stathaki • Published