Beirut Port Explosion — Full Timeline Reconstruction
Provenance
- Sources
- Files
| Source | Organisation & people | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Official investigation | Forensic Architecture | forensic-architecture.org |
| 3D scene (ArcGIS) | Forensic Architecture | experience.arcgis.com |
| Released source models | Forensic Architecture | github.com/forensic-architecture/models |
| File | What it contains |
|---|---|
BeirutPort_Aug5_2020.ply | Post-blast point cloud |
Site.blend | Port and city blockout with camera locations (Site and Clouds.c4d also available) |
Warehouse.blend | Interior: tyres, fireworks, ammonium nitrate bags |
Clouds.blend | Fire and explosion envelope at different times |
Media_inventory.xlsx | Media mapping |
Introduction
Forensic Architecture rebuilt the 4 August 2020 Beirut port explosion as a full timeline. The model combines a city-scale architectural base, warehouse detail and camera-matched video footage. It shows how the fire spread and where the blast began.
Background
A comprehensive timeline and spatial reconstruction of the Beirut harbor explosion (2020). Integration of a city-scale architectural model with volumetric smoke representations and temporally synchronized camera-matching, aligning multiple data sources to establish a defensible sequence of events.
How it was likely made
- Integrating legacy architectural models: original city model built in Rhinoceros 5.0 (
.3dm); imported into Blender (communityimport_3dmaddon, or via.obj/.fbxpreserving scale). - Custom warehouse modeling: not native to the city base; modeled from open-source photo/video, matched against satellite baselines, nested into the Rhino blockout.
- Point cloud registration: high-density post-blast
.plyoverlay on the pre-blast mesh to confirm structural displacement and destruction radius. - Smoke plume: likely sculpted to match footage — not necessarily a simulation (fire sim used to locate blast origin).
Summary
This case shows how a city-scale base model, a registered point cloud and camera-matched footage combine into one defensible timeline. Forensic Architecture released the source files, so investigators can inspect the reconstruction itself.
Resources
- Camera Matching — aligning footage to a 3D scene
- Geolocation — placing the event on the map
- Photogrammetry — turning images into geometry
- Metashape — the photogrammetry tool used in this class of work
Sources
- Forensic Architecture — Beirut Port Explosion — the investigation this page reconstructs
- The Beirut Port Explosion (English) — the official film, published by Forensic Architecture