Archinect - News

Tadao Ando accused of copying artist Willie Cole's designs with recycled Met Gala chandelier

2023-05-03T11:16:00-04:00

Last night, a star-studded crowd trickled into the Metropolitan Museum of Art for its annual gala beneath a gargantuan chandelier made of what appeared to be plastic water bottles. After the event took place, several members of the art community noticed what appeared to be suspicious similarities between the chandelier and the plastic works of American artist Willie Cole.

Cole’s work is included in the museum’s permanent collection, and the large-scale chandeliers in question were profiled just two months ago by the New York Times. The large-scale pieces were made of nearly 6,000 individual water bottles and were created to instigate a conversation about the water crisis afflicting Cole’s hometown of Newark, New Jersey, in 2019. Some have found them comparable on social media.

The pieces were also profiled in Vogue yesterday, which quoted event planner Raul Àvila as saying: "We wanted to find a way to create a sustainable design that would implement the bottles into a breathtaking installation unlike anything we’ve done before."

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Willie cole (@williecoleart)

No more Duplitecture: China cracks down on copycat architecture and supertall skyscrapers

2020-05-15T18:13:00-04:00

A government statement says "plagiarising, imitating, and copycatting" designs is prohibited in new public facilities. The statement says buildings "reveal a city's culture" - and that "large, foreign, and weird" designs should be limited. The guidelines also clamp down on new skyscrapers - limiting them, in general, to a maximum of 500 metres.

A new government directive released jointly by China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and National Development and Reform Commission seeks to halt the further spread of Western-inspired copycat architecture, a common appearance in many Chinese cities.

Duplitecture definition from Archinect's Lexicon

Construction of new tall buildings, especially skyscrapers over 500 meters, will also be significantly limited.

The announcement follows a prominent 2016 directive that hoped to ban "oversized, xenocentric, weird" architecture and President Xi Jinping’s criticism of "weird architecture" in 2014.

Previously:

Editor's Picks #442

2016-03-03T13:23:00-05:00

ICYMI Will Galloway penned a reflection on a workshop he instigated at Keio University, with members of Assemble, Paloma Strelitz and James Binning (pre Turner Prize). The studio ended with students building a very rough and very temporary Onsen. The three later discussed, the history of Assemble, architecture’s "long history of collective action" and "amazingly entrepreneurial architectural practices".

Donna Sink loved their take on radicalism "as just being a reasonable way to practice. They believe they're not radical at all. I'm onboard with removing the word ‘non-traditional’ from the descriptor ‘non-traditional practice’ when it comes to architecture of this kind. It's just practice, which is a broad world."

Plus, Amelia Taylor-Hochberg published an interview with Steven Holl and Kevin Lippert (founder of Princeton Architectural Press) about Pamphlet Architecture. rprt frm th heartland praised Pamphlet as "chewy and lovely".

News
Over at Architect Magazine Blaine Brownell, AIA, e...

Chinese Colleges Are Trying to Look Like the Ivy League

2014-09-16T17:57:00-04:00

[...] colleges in China are copying America’s copycat approach. There’s a university in Shanghai where faux English manor houses sit side-by-side with dorms modeled on Britain’s half-timbered homes. To the north, Hebei province boasts a university inspired by Harry Potter’s Hogwarts—itself fashioned on the traditional collegiate Gothic. Even specific colleges have been cloned.

From Tower Bridge to Sydney Harbour, welcome to China's city of clones

2014-06-03T13:21:00-04:00

Suzhou is like many Chinese cities. It has a historic core, including nine Unesco world heritage sites, as well as many beautiful gardens, waterways and temples. [...] But Suzhou has also embarked on another fascinating project: urban mimicry. From Venetian-style “water town” districts to Dutch-style suburban living, Suzhou hosts what journalist Bianca Bosker calls “original copies”: simulations of western landmarks. The city is fast becoming China’s city of clones.

Previously:

Colossal Bavarian Castle Set To Open In Dalian, China

2014-05-21T13:47:00-04:00

Luxury hotel chain Starwood Hotels unveiled the upcoming opening of The Castle Hotel in Dalian, a major seaport city in China’s northeastern Liaoning province. This makes it one of the various examples of European-inspired architecture sprouting across China in recent years. Starwood Hotels announced in a press release of the opening of The Castle Hotel later this year, when it is done with its final stages of interior renovation.

Previously: Chinese secretly copy Austrian town

Olympics deja vu: Sochi’s Fisht Stadium vs. AT&T Stadium

2014-02-07T17:15:00-05:00

Fisht reproduces Cowboys signature pair of arched trusses, and shares its bulbous, hump-back shape — albeit with a wave-like articulated roof of polycarbonate. What it appears not to share, at least from the images available online, is the sensitive way Cowboys Stadium hits the ground, slanting in to minimize its bulk. Fisht is a lot more ham-fisted, flaring out and surrounded by all manner of circulatory junk.

Cowboys Stadium

Editor's Picks #296- Happy (Gregorian or Julian calendar) New Year's Day!

2013-01-02T01:22:00-05:00

fschlem started a blog The Dirty South...The blog takes it name from a studio titled the "Dirty South," offered at the Georgia Tech. The studio was the brainchild of TVSDesign Distinguished Studio Critic Jennifer Bonner and it’s goal was to look at the city of Atlanta through the filter of the rap ideology of east coast/ west coast/ dirty south, translated to the realm of architecture...Connely Farr thought "wow. really interesting idea for a studio..."

Just like last year, Archinect has begun the transition into the new year by reflecting back on the 2012 by sharing the most trafficked pages in Archinect's diverse online ecosystem, with a list of 12 top 12 lists for '12. As always, they listing the most popular pages from across the site, based exclusively on visits by unique page-views. Released so far are the 12 most visited News posts and 12 most visited Feature articles during 2012.

Tomorrow the 12 top 12 BLOGS,BLOG POSTS and LIVE BLOGS will be announced.

News
Michael Kimmelman reviewed the new Stedelijk Museum and reflecting on it’s design asked "Why a tub?" Thayer-D offered up a few guesses but then gave up and replied "Why IS this museum shaped like a tub?". Orhan Ayyüce added "Building aside, it is a good museum with an excellent director, Ann Goldstein, who was a great curator here in Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art since the 80's. She is one of the best curators anywhere when it comes to conceptual art. Sh...

Why cities want parks in the sky

2012-10-11T16:35:00-04:00

It has been so popular that other cities are following suit, with plans to replicate the formula in London. What is the secret of its success?

Following the success of NYC High Line park/project, cities around the world from: London, Chicago, Philadelphia and Rotterdam are looking to replicate their own versions. Robin Banerji reports that some are even hoping to use "more besides disused railways". She also touches on some of the value added results of the park's success.

Photo via the http://www.thehighline.org/galleries/images/high-line-flickr-pool