Pavilion plagiarism refuted
- Source: Global Times
- [02:39 April 29 2010]
- Comments
The Chinese pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo.
By Guo Qiang
In the latest response to plagiarism accusations in the lead-up to Saturday's opening of the World Expo, organizers in Shanghai pledged Wednesday that the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) is a priority throughout the six-month fair.
"We have attached great importance to IPR protection. … Any IPR conflicts with regard to the Expo should be dealt with according to relevant laws," Hong Hao, director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, said Wednesday at a press conference amid public suspicion of plagiarism over the design of China's pavilion, mascot and theme song.
The design of the China pavilion, "The Crown of the East," an inverted pyramid-like building, is being scrutinized as a copy of a former Japanese pavilion designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando for the 1992 Seville Expo in Spain. And some have claimed that China's pavilion is similar to the Canadian pavilion from the Montreal Expo in 1967.
But a deputy chief designer for China's pavilion has refuted such allegations.
Ni Yang, who is also the deputy dean of the Architectural Design Institute at South China University, told the Guangzhou-based New Express newspaper Tuesday that, "There are several differences between his and my work," referring to Ando's design.
"His work was for the purpose of decoration, but mine is a building. The style of the pavilion is widely used in architecture design, so that it is not the creation of Tadao Ando," Ni said.
Ni pointed to windows as an example, asking whether someone should be accused of plagiarism if other structures contain square windows. "Furthermore," he contested, "there are wide differences between the two pavilions in terms of architectural details, materials, color and size. And this kind of design originated from China's traditional bucket arch."
A leading Chinese architect backed Ni, saying the design of the pavilion was inspired by a traditional Chinese style, suggesting that the plagiarism accusations are being pointed in the wrong direction.
