Couple sues neighbors over a house renovated to look like theirs

2017-10-05T14:10:00-04:00

Jason and Jodi Chapnik, who live in a multi-million dollar home on Strathearn Rd., filed a lawsuit against their neighbours for remodeling a nearby property on Vesta Dr. to look “strikingly similar” to their house.

The couple sued their neighbors for $2.5 million—$1.5 million in damages, $20,000 in statutory copyright damages, $1 million in punitive damages, and a mandatory injunction on the defendant to change the design of the home. The lawsuit was filed against their neighbor Barbara Ann Kirshenblatt, her builder husband and architect brother-in-law for copyright infringement in federal court, as well as the real estate agent who profited from the house’s recent sale and the anonymous contractors who worked on the house.

The plaintiffs argued that the flipped house decreased the value of their home, which is one of the most well-known and admired houses in the neighborhood due to its unique architecture. Kirshenblatt, on the other hand, denies copying the look stating that the renovation is inspired by Tudor stone cottages, a style of stonework that is common to the trade and not protectable by copyright.

The involved homes are located in Toronto's Forest Hill neighborhood, one of the cit...

Archinect's Lexicon: "Duplitecture"

2014-11-21T14:28:00-05:00

duplitecture [d(y)o͞oplətek(t)SHər], noun: an intentional, functioning copy of a pre-existing, and often familiar, piece of architecture. For example, "Hangzhou's replication of Venice takes duplitecture to the city-level." This definition is Archinect's own wording.

A few examples in China, the site of the term's inspiration, include an Eiffel Tower in Hangzhou and Shanghai's "Thames Town" (images here). Ranging from single structures to entire communities, duplitecture is distinguished from mere models or miniatures (as are common in theme parks or historical institutions) by its use – duplitecture is not decorative or merely artistic.

The term was coined by Bianca Bosker in her 2013 book, Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China. She points out that while China is notorious for knocking off intellectual property (in the case of consumer technology and fashion as well as duplitecture), copying isn't considered bad in and of itself. In Chinese aesthetic tradition,...

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Couple sues neighbors over a house renovated to look like theirs

Archinect's Lexicon: "Duplitecture"