Copy That: Architectural ‘Borrowing’ in China
A building (right) resembling the one designed by architect Zaha Hadid (left) is going up in the city of Chongqing, China.
For tourists who travel to China, one thing they may find is the incredible array of designer goods. But caveat emptor!
China is also the land of the knock-off: knock-off designer handbags, knock-off blockbuster movies on DVDs, etc. But now, it seems the knock-off has gone off the charts in terms of proportion: entire buildings.
The Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid unveiled her designs (left in the picture above) for the Wangjing Soho complex in Beijing in 2011. It’s now under construction.
But a building that looks a lot like Hadid’s is going up in the city of Chongqing, and it may actually be finished first.
Avi Friedman is a professor of architecture at McGill University in Montreal.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.