Replica of the Austrian alpine town Hallstatt in Guangdong Province, China. Photograph: Alex Hofford/Sinopix/Rex
“An alpine town, the Eiffel Tower, the whole Manhattan skyline … China is replicating the world’s architectural gems. But now Zaha Hadid would like it to stop.”
“…From pirated DVDs to knock-off designer brands, the country has a thriving counterfeit culture, often facilitated by local protectionism and a reluctance on the part of the authorities to enforce fledgling intellectual property laws. Moreover, there are no specific laws protecting architecture, due to its slippery definition as a work of applied art – with functional and artistic qualities, in which only the latter is protected. This overlooks the fact that the two can rarely be separated: a facade could be an integral part of a building’s structure, as well as providing its main artistic thrust. So China, like a global architectural magpie, helps itself to the biggest and best bits of cities the world over…”
Read the whole story in The Guardian: Seeing double: what China’s copycat culture means for architecture | Art and design | guardian.co.uk.
Places. 