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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. — ARTnews
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... View full entry
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.
— BBC
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
[...] 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. — theatlantic.com
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.
— theguardian.com
Previously:Colossal Bavarian Castle Set To Open In Dalian, ChinaChinese secretly copy Austrian town View full entry
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.
— jingdaily.com
Previously: Chinese secretly copy Austrian town View full entry
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. — artsblog.dallasnews.com
Cowboys Stadium View full entry
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... View full entry
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? — BBC News
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... View full entry
