China developer ‘copies’ star architect’s design
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A group of men visits a model of the Wang Jing SOHO complex created by renowned architect Zaha Hadid in Beijing on Jan 3, 2013. Already famed for fake designer bags and pirated DVDs, imitation in China may have reached new heights with a set of towers that strongly resemble ones designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid. It could rank among the more flagrant ripoffs in a country already notorious for imitating foreign products without permission -- but the developer of the Chongqing project, Meiquan 22nd Century, has denied any copying. -- PHOTO: AFP -
This picture shows a model of the Meiquan 22nd Century building in China's southwest Chongqing on Jan 3, 2012. Already famed for fake designer bags and pirated DVDs, imitation in China may have reached new heights with a set of towers that strongly resemble ones designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid. It could rank among the more flagrant ripoffs in a country already notorious for imitating foreign products without permission -- but the developer of the Chongqing project, Meiquan 22nd Century, has denied any copying. -- PHOTO: AFP
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This combo shows pictures of the construction of the Wangjing SOHO (top) building in Beijing, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, and construction of the Meiquan 22nd Century building (bottom) in China's south-west Chongqing on Jan 3, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
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A Chinese man rides a tricycle past a billboard for the under-construction Wang Jing SOHO complex by renowned architect Zaha Hadid in Beijing on Jan 3, 2013. -- PHOTO: AFP
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This picture shows the under-construction Wang Jing SOHO complex by renowned architect Zaha Hadid in Beijing on Jan 3, 2013. -- PHOTO: AFP
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This combo shows pictures a model of the Wangjing SOHO (top) building in Beijing, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, and a model of the Meiquan 22nd Century building (bottom) in China's southwest Chongqing on Jan 3, 2012. Already famed for fake designer bags and pirated DVDs, imitation in China may have reached new heights with a set of towers that strongly resemble ones designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid. It could rank among the more flagrant ripoffs in a country already notorious for imitating foreign products without permission -- but the developer of the Chongqing project, Meiquan 22nd Century, has denied any copying. -- PHOTO: AFP
A group of men visits a model of the Wang Jing SOHO complex created by renowned architect Zaha Hadid in Beijing on Jan 3, 2013. Already famed for fake designer bags and pirated DVDs, imitation in China may have reached new heights with a set of towers that strongly resemble ones designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid. It could rank among the more flagrant ripoffs in a country already notorious for imitating foreign products without permission -- but the developer of the Chongqing project, Meiquan 22nd Century, has denied any copying. -- PHOTO: AFP
This picture shows a model of the Meiquan 22nd Century building in China's southwest Chongqing on Jan 3, 2012. Already famed for fake designer bags and pirated DVDs, imitation in China may have reached new heights with a set of towers that strongly resemble ones designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid. It could rank among the more flagrant ripoffs in a country already notorious for imitating foreign products without permission -- but the developer of the Chongqing project, Meiquan 22nd Century, has denied any copying. -- PHOTO: AFP
This combo shows pictures of the construction of the Wangjing SOHO (top) building in Beijing, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, and construction of the Meiquan 22nd Century building (bottom) in China's south-west Chongqing on Jan 3, 2012. -- PHOTO: AFP
A Chinese man rides a tricycle past a billboard for the under-construction Wang Jing SOHO complex by renowned architect Zaha Hadid in Beijing on Jan 3, 2013. -- PHOTO: AFP
This picture shows the under-construction Wang Jing SOHO complex by renowned architect Zaha Hadid in Beijing on Jan 3, 2013. -- PHOTO: AFP
This combo shows pictures a model of the Wangjing SOHO (top) building in Beijing, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, and a model of the Meiquan 22nd Century building (bottom) in China's southwest Chongqing on Jan 3, 2012. Already famed for fake designer bags and pirated DVDs, imitation in China may have reached new heights with a set of towers that strongly resemble ones designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid. It could rank among the more flagrant ripoffs in a country already notorious for imitating foreign products without permission -- but the developer of the Chongqing project, Meiquan 22nd Century, has denied any copying. -- PHOTO: AFP
BEIJING (AFP) - Already famed for fake designer bags and pirated DVDs, imitation in China may have reached new heights with a set of towers that strongly resemble ones designed by renowned architect Zaha Hadid.
A developer in the southwestern city of Chongqing is putting up buildings that share the distinctive round contours and white stripes of a 39-floor shopping and office complex conceived by the British-Iraqi designer and being built in Beijing.
The magazine China Intellectual Property noted that the “design sketch indeed shows certain similarities", and listed several buildings by the developer that resembled others elsewhere in China.
