Panel | Visual Investigations: Between Advocacy, Journalism and Law

Join us for a discussion in connection with , an exhibition that recently opened at The Architekturmuseum der TUM in Munich. The exhibition delves into the emerging field of visual investigation, examining how architecture operates between advocacy, journalism, and law in the pursuit of justice and accountability. A series of seven case studies will be presented to contextualize the multifaceted roles architecture can play within these domains.

A panel discussion including curator Andres Lepik, Civil Rights Attorney Elena Cohen, Artist Suneil Sanzgiri and Director of SITU Research Brad Samuels will follow the presentations.

Human rights violations are more present in the public domain than ever before, not least due to the ubiquity of image sources: smartphones, satellites, surveillance equipment, and police body cameras produce large volumes of audiovisual material, recording violent and repressive incidents, as well as persistent injustices. Together, the case studies present the power of visual investigation to shed light on hidden injustices and support accountability across various domains.

Brad Samuels is a founding partner at SITU Research, a Brooklyn-based visual investigations practice focused on merging data and design to create new pathways for justice. SITU Research’s work supports activists, advocates, and lawyers, bridging the gap between digital evidence and the communities that can best deploy them towards justice and accountability. Samuels has overseen the team’s visual investigations for legal and advocacy organizations including The International Criminal Court, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, The Associated Press, Frontline, The United Nations and many others.
Outside the multidisciplinary practice, Samuels has served on the Technology Advisory Board for the International Criminal Court, The Advisory Board for the Carnegie Mellon's Center for Human Rights Science and the board of The Architectural League of New York. He currently teaches at The Irwin S Chanin School of Architecture at the Cooper Union.

Suneil Sanzgiri is an Indian American artist, researcher, and filmmaker. Spanning experimental video and film, animations, essays, and installations, his work contends with questions of identity, heritage, culture, and diaspora in relation to structural violence and anticolonial struggles across the Global South. Sanzgiri’s films offer sonic and visual journeys through family history, local mythology, and colonial legacies of extraction in Goa, India—where his family originates. His first institutional solo exhibition "Here the Earth Grows Gold" opened at the Brooklyn Museum in October 2023. His award-winning films have circulated widely at film festivals and art institutions across the world including International Film Festival Rotterdam, New York Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Doclisboa, Viennale, Camden International Film Festival, BlackStar Film Festival, Open City Docs, REDCAT, MASS MoCA, Wexner Center for the Arts, moCa Cleveland, Le Cinéma Club, Criterion Collection, and many more.

Elena L. Cohen, Assistant Professor of Law at Widener University Delaware Law School, is an accomplished attorney, activist, and academic with a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the City University of New York. She is the former President of the National Lawyers Guild and has extensive experience in civil rights litigation, criminal defense, and legal support for protest activities. Cohen’s scholarly contributions include articles on the intersection of politics and law and a chapter in "Biopolitics and Utopia: An Interdisciplinary Reader." At Delaware Law, Professor Cohen will teach a wide range of courses including Civil Rights, and Constitutional Law, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Legal Writing and Torts.

Andres Lepik is Professor for architecture history and curatorial studies at Technical University Munich (TUM) and director of the Architecture Museum. He studied art history and finished with a PhD on architectural models in the Renaissance. In 1994 he started working as Curator at Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin presenting „Renzo Piano“ (2000) and „Content. Rem Koolhaas and AMO/OMA“ in 2003. From 2007 to 2011 he was Curator at the Architecture and Design Department in MoMA, New York, showing „Small Scale, Big Change. New Architectures of Social Engagement.“ In 2011/12 he was Loeb-Fellow at Graduate School of Design in Harvard University. Since 2012 in Munich he has presented numerous exhibitions, as „AFRITECTURE. Building Social Change“, (2013/14), „Lina Bo Bardi 100“ (2015), „Francis Kéré. Radically Simple“ (2016/17) and recently “Who’s Next? Homelessness, Architecture and Cities” (2022). Andres Lepik has published numerous books and articles and lectured in many universities worldwide.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

Host or Publisher WNYC and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art