Christopher Brown ARB RIBA
The work explores the relationship between forensic investigation and architectural interpretation through the meticulous documentation of a ruined space. By employing a forensic approach to surveying, the project seeks to reveal the layered history of human presence within the ruin, capturing both permanent architectural elements and transient traces of activity.
A 3D laser-scanned floor plan provides an objective spatial framework, while a carefully composed line drawing selectively renders only the objects found within the space—discarded artifacts, weathered materials, and the subtle marks of past occupation. This method removes the traditional architectural emphasis on walls and boundaries, instead highlighting the site’s material memory and accumulated histories.
By borrowing methodologies from forensic science, the work presents a new mode of architectural documentation—one that reads places as sites of evidence, where physical traces tell the story of past human interactions. This investigative approach questions how ruins can be understood not just as remnants of the past, but as evolving records of use, decay, and adaptation.