Is Copy Cat Architecture a bad thing? Or is it the Start of a New Style of Building?

Lawrence Barns article in the Business today has got me thinking! The article ' Are Buildings Safe from Plagiarism" primarily looks into the Donald Trump case, where he aimed to sue an adjacent building for $60 million, because of it's similar facade design. Trump's Issue was ' the identity and signature of the building are creating in fact a profit for the owner"

Barns, Lawrence. 'Are Buildings Safe from Plagiarism?' Business Week (1984)

He felt that a similar building in design and facade would in fact devalue his building and the desirability , therefore making it difficult to sell the remaining units.

However another issue that was raised was, is copied architecture such a bad thing? Does it not take copied designs to start an architectural style. Quite often repeat developments are often favored as it creates a sense of identity or ownership for a developer. In particular in buildings which act as the same function for example fast food chains, supermarkets, schools, health centers. However this may be a case where functionality drives the architecture rather than any aspect of design being involved.

The majority of housing in the UK are replicas off one another, for example the victorian terraced houses in many British towns. Now i appreciate that one developer was likely to produce an entire town. However it is likely this was then 'copied' almost identically by another architect. In this era it was more a case of practicality that architectural flair however it is still an occurrence where plagiarism has had a positive effect.

This is definitely a research topic I will explore further, in particular whether there were any cases of plagiarism being brought to light during these earlier periods.

Image: www.telegraph.co.uk