A judge in Virginia has dismissed a defamation counterclaim in a case involving two architects. The case involves Swiss architect Valerio Olgiati versus Markus Breitschmid, an architect and architecture professor at Virginia Tech, and is being heard in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. As we previously reported, Olgiati has served as Kenzo Tange Chair at the Harvard GSD.

The origins of the case stem from a dispute between Olgiati and Breitschmid over a house designed and built in Virginia. The two architects have known each other since 2006 and have collaborated on several projects, including co-publishing books. 

Having previously discussed the prospect of designing a house together, Breitschmid contacted Olgiati in 2020 about his intention to build a house on a property in Riner, Virginia. According to court documents, Breitschmid alleges that “Olgiati was excited about the opportunity to have his name affiliated with a residential construction project in the United States” and together they named the project the “Manahoac House.” Over two years, Olgiati “provided Breitschmid with a rudimentary set of initial design drawings for the house;” however, due to “a number of factors,” in April 2022 the parties’ collaboration ended on bad terms, the documents note.

Court documents continue to explain that “Breitschmid designed and built a ‘new and different house’ with an architecture firm located in Charlottesville, Virginia, which house design is ‘not based upon, nor is it a version…of, any of the design drawings created by Olgiati in relation to the Manahoac House.’”

The case began as a two-count complaint brought by Olgiati against Breitschmid, alleging a breach of implied contract and unjust enrichment. Breitschmid subsequently brought a counterclaim of defamation and defamation per se against Olgiati.

Breitschmid’s counterclaim centers on social media comments made by Olgiati, who wrote to his 190,000 Instagram followers: “Markus Breitschmid together with local architects executes a distorted version of my design for the Manahoac House in Riner, Virginia that I do not approve.” Breitschmid alleged that this statement “incurred damage to his personal reputation, humiliation, embarrassment, and mental anguish” as well as damage to his reputation in business and trade.

In recent developments, however, Judge Robert Ballou has dismissed Breitschmid’s counterclaim, noting in a Memorandum Opinion that “the alleged defamatory statement is an opinion and lacks the requisite defamatory sting.” Ballou’s determination centers on a requirement in Virginia law that for defamation to be proven, the defendant must have knowingly or unreasonably published a false actionable statement.

“Due to the principles of freedom of speech provided by the United States Constitution, pure expressions of opinion are not actionable as defamation,” Judge Ballou wrote. “A reasonable reader would understand the Statement on Instagram, that ‘Markus Breitschmid together with local architects executes a distorted version of my design for the Manahoac House in Riner, Virginia that I do not approve’ to be Olgiati’s opinion.”

“Reading the Statement as a whole and considering the context, Olgiati is stating his subjective opinion,” Judge Ballou continues. “Olgiati’s opinion, expressed on Instagram, is that a structure built by Markus Breitschmid and local architects is a distorted version of the Manahoac House design, which Olgiati had developed through a collaborative design project with Breitschmid, and Olgiati does not have a favorable opinion of that distorted version. While individuals may agree or disagree with an opinion, it is still a personal viewpoint.”

“Likewise, a reasonable reader would understand Olgiati’s statement that ‘I do not approve’ to be another reflection of his personal viewpoint,” Judge Ballou added.

The case remains ongoing, as per reporting by Virginia Law Weekly.