Could Studio Gang and/or the owner make a justifiable lawsuit against Arquitectonica?
poop876
Feb 9, 16 9:36 am
Similar yes! Floor plans are different and the program is different. I think there was a litigation against Architectonica and Regalia because it looked like a design by another architect.
I think Rick-B probably has some experience and insight on copyright law as it applies to both buildings...
Donna Sink
Feb 9, 16 10:03 am
It's probably not worth a lawsuit. As our friend Miles says, the only winners in lawsuits are lawyers.
It's different from Aqua in that it's much more regular and not nearly as well-balanced or fluid. It's definitely a bit of a rip off (assuming Arquitectonica isn't reviving a design they first conceived pre-Aqua that never went forward).
But I also think this kind of "ripping off" is just part of practice these days. Everyone around the world sees everyone else's design instantaneously, and some of the forms become trendy. What can be frustrating about it is that when designers constantly feel pressure to come up with "new" forms we all end up with a lot of crap. A slow refinement of a given set of forms can also be beautiful. I'd say, IMO, that Gang's tower is much more refined than this one, and this one is much better than the one in the lawsuit poop linked, but someone else could take Gang's Aqua and redefine/refine it into something even better, too.
Another example, but within one architect's ouvre: I love BIG's Mountain project, and I think the 57 West project in Manhattan is a refinement of similar forms into another very good project, but in between they've put a few stinkers (unbuilt - they were in the Building Museum show) out there too.
curtkram
Feb 9, 16 10:14 am
i think they should be sued for the marketing material that says it recalls the ocean waves instead of saying it recalls chicago architecture. just a simple cease and desist and we can all move on.
Janosh
Feb 9, 16 10:16 am
Yeah, I had the misfortune of working at Arquitectonica briefly in the early 2000s. Due to the nature of high rise residential, at any given time there were dozens of similar tower projects in the works - Bernardo had sketched this wave motif balcony scheme a lot, for projects all over the world, with the only distinguishing feature between them being the type of tree that appeared in the renderings. It's astonishing that within a narrow typology like this that anyone could think that they have created some formal innovation that hasn't been previously imagined.
JeromeS
Feb 9, 16 10:42 am
feel pressure to come up with "new" forms
nice, why can't it just be a good building. Maybe that professor, stuck in classicism, that I silently mocked, was onto something...
Donna Sink
Feb 9, 16 10:49 am
I knew my post would lead to some remark about Classicism. That's why I added BIG's stuff: within a set of non-Classical forms his work can be critiqued as more or less successful. No one's saying - or at least *I'm* not saying - that only Classicism is good.
chigurh
Feb 9, 16 11:11 am
yawn.
gwharton
Feb 9, 16 11:42 am
Exposing slab edges and shaping them is not a proprietary idea. It's not even particularly original to Studio Gang. Just FYI.
It does, however, turn buildings into highly efficient heat radiators.
SneakyPete
Feb 9, 16 11:45 am
I wonder if these clowns at least thermally isolated their balconies.
You know, now that we supposedly give a shit about energy performance in buildings.
I've got a chunk of Isokorb sitting on my desk. Staring at it right now.
JeromeS
Feb 9, 16 12:20 pm
No one's saying - or at least *I'm* not saying - that only Classicism is good.
I agree...
Donna Sink
Feb 9, 16 12:23 pm
Hahaha gwharton that was actually my first thought too: "Wonder if they've solved the thermal bridge issue in this one?" but I felt like a geek for saying it. Thank you for confirming my geek tendencies are OK, I love that thermo picture!
awaiting_deletion
Feb 9, 16 2:05 pm
years ago I read in a Ken Yeang book that like a motorcylce piston cover it's good for getting rid of heat...so the knock-off may make more sense the original because of location.
SneakyPete
Feb 9, 16 5:26 pm
It's also good at getting rid of the cold, so you're basically super cooling the fins so the warm winds can heat them up again.
http://www.designboom.com/architecture/arquitectonica-regalia-condominium-sunny-isles-florida-02-08-2016/
Rip-off? Imitation? Coincidence?
Could Studio Gang and/or the owner make a justifiable lawsuit against Arquitectonica?
Similar yes! Floor plans are different and the program is different. I think there was a litigation against Architectonica and Regalia because it looked like a design by another architect.
http://www.thenextmiami.com/regalia-70m-lawsuit-comparison-of-sieger-suarez-arquitectonia-designs/
I think Rick-B probably has some experience and insight on copyright law as it applies to both buildings...
It's probably not worth a lawsuit. As our friend Miles says, the only winners in lawsuits are lawyers.
It's different from Aqua in that it's much more regular and not nearly as well-balanced or fluid. It's definitely a bit of a rip off (assuming Arquitectonica isn't reviving a design they first conceived pre-Aqua that never went forward).
But I also think this kind of "ripping off" is just part of practice these days. Everyone around the world sees everyone else's design instantaneously, and some of the forms become trendy. What can be frustrating about it is that when designers constantly feel pressure to come up with "new" forms we all end up with a lot of crap. A slow refinement of a given set of forms can also be beautiful. I'd say, IMO, that Gang's tower is much more refined than this one, and this one is much better than the one in the lawsuit poop linked, but someone else could take Gang's Aqua and redefine/refine it into something even better, too.
Another example, but within one architect's ouvre: I love BIG's Mountain project, and I think the 57 West project in Manhattan is a refinement of similar forms into another very good project, but in between they've put a few stinkers (unbuilt - they were in the Building Museum show) out there too.
i think they should be sued for the marketing material that says it recalls the ocean waves instead of saying it recalls chicago architecture. just a simple cease and desist and we can all move on.
Yeah, I had the misfortune of working at Arquitectonica briefly in the early 2000s. Due to the nature of high rise residential, at any given time there were dozens of similar tower projects in the works - Bernardo had sketched this wave motif balcony scheme a lot, for projects all over the world, with the only distinguishing feature between them being the type of tree that appeared in the renderings. It's astonishing that within a narrow typology like this that anyone could think that they have created some formal innovation that hasn't been previously imagined.
feel pressure to come up with "new" forms
nice, why can't it just be a good building. Maybe that professor, stuck in classicism, that I silently mocked, was onto something...
I knew my post would lead to some remark about Classicism. That's why I added BIG's stuff: within a set of non-Classical forms his work can be critiqued as more or less successful. No one's saying - or at least *I'm* not saying - that only Classicism is good.
yawn.
Exposing slab edges and shaping them is not a proprietary idea. It's not even particularly original to Studio Gang. Just FYI.
It does, however, turn buildings into highly efficient heat radiators.
I wonder if these clowns at least thermally isolated their balconies.
You know, now that we supposedly give a shit about energy performance in buildings.
DAMMIT WHARTON!
;)
Edited to add:
It's not difficult, it simply costs more... http://www.schock-us.com/en_us/solutions/isokorb--189
I've got a chunk of Isokorb sitting on my desk. Staring at it right now.
No one's saying - or at least *I'm* not saying - that only Classicism is good.
I agree...
Hahaha gwharton that was actually my first thought too: "Wonder if they've solved the thermal bridge issue in this one?" but I felt like a geek for saying it. Thank you for confirming my geek tendencies are OK, I love that thermo picture!
years ago I read in a Ken Yeang book that like a motorcylce piston cover it's good for getting rid of heat...so the knock-off may make more sense the original because of location.
It's also good at getting rid of the cold, so you're basically super cooling the fins so the warm winds can heat them up again.
"a slow refinement of a given set of forms" =
get ready for it....
a tradition!
haha...getting rid of the cold......