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Spatial Habitus: Making and Meaning in Asia's Architecture
Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China
A 108-meter high Eiffel Tower rises above Champs Elysées Square in Hangzhou. A Chengdu residential complex for 200,000 recreates Dorchester, England. An ersatz Queen’s Guard patrols Shanghai’s Thames Town, where pubs and statues of Winston Churchill abound. Gleaming replicas of the White House dot Chinese cities from Fuyang to Shenzhen. These examples are but a sampling of China’s most popular and startling architectural movement: the construction of monumental themed communities that replicate towns and cities in the West.
Original Copies presents the first definitive chronicle of this remarkable phenomenon in which entire townships appear to have been airlifted from their historic and geographic foundations in Europe and the Americas, and spot-welded to Chinese cities. These copycat constructions are not theme parks but thriving communities where Chinese families raise children, cook dinners, and simulate the experiences of a pseudo-Orange County or Oxford.
In recounting the untold and evolving story of China’s predilection for replicating the greatest architectural hits of the West, Bianca Bosker explores what this unprecedented experiment in “duplitecture” implies for the social, political, architectural, and commercial landscape of contemporary China. With her lively, authoritative narrative, the author shows us how, in subtle but important ways, these homes and public spaces shape the behavior of their residents, as they reflect the achievements, dreams, and anxieties of those who inhabit them, as well as those of their developers and designers.
From Chinese philosophical perspectives on copying to twenty-first century market forces, Bosker details the factors giving rise to China’s new breed of building. Her analysis draws on insights from the world’s leading architects, critics and city planners, and on interviews with the residents of these developments.
69 illus., 54 in color
Original Copies presents the first definitive chronicle of this remarkable phenomenon in which entire townships appear to have been airlifted from their historic and geographic foundations in Europe and the Americas, and spot-welded to Chinese cities. These copycat constructions are not theme parks but thriving communities where Chinese families raise children, cook dinners, and simulate the experiences of a pseudo-Orange County or Oxford.
In recounting the untold and evolving story of China’s predilection for replicating the greatest architectural hits of the West, Bianca Bosker explores what this unprecedented experiment in “duplitecture” implies for the social, political, architectural, and commercial landscape of contemporary China. With her lively, authoritative narrative, the author shows us how, in subtle but important ways, these homes and public spaces shape the behavior of their residents, as they reflect the achievements, dreams, and anxieties of those who inhabit them, as well as those of their developers and designers.
From Chinese philosophical perspectives on copying to twenty-first century market forces, Bosker details the factors giving rise to China’s new breed of building. Her analysis draws on insights from the world’s leading architects, critics and city planners, and on interviews with the residents of these developments.
69 illus., 54 in color
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
4 people are currently reading
316 people want to read
About the author
Bianca Bosker
8 books315 followersBianca Bosker is an award-winning journalist and the author of Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste.
Bosker has written about food, wine, architecture, and technology for The New Yorker online, The Atlantic, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Food & Wine, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and The New Republic. The former executive tech editor of The Huffington Post, she is the author of the critically acclaimed book Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China (University of Hawaii Press, 2013). She lives in New York City.
Bosker has written about food, wine, architecture, and technology for The New Yorker online, The Atlantic, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Food & Wine, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and The New Republic. The former executive tech editor of The Huffington Post, she is the author of the critically acclaimed book Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China (University of Hawaii Press, 2013). She lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 11, 2020
“The men in the rocket looked out and saw this. Then they looked at one another and then they looked out again. They held on to each other’s elbows, suddenly unable to breathe, it seemed. Their faces grew pale and they blinked constantly, running from glass port to glass port of the ship … And it’s a small town the like of Earth towns … Captain John Black rang the bell ... ‘I beg your pardon,’ he said, ‘But we’re strangers here. We’re from Earth, and we want to know how this town got here and you got here.’” -Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles
At first, the whole idea of copycat architecture in China seemed absurd to me, since cultural heritage in museology and monument conservation theory primarily has a testimonial function and plays an educational and identity establishing role, and is ergo voided of original meaning if transplanted from its original context. In this respect photos of the Eiffel tower in Zhejiang Province, China seem eerie. Besides my studies I was also wary of the phenomenon because of the discourse surrounding cultural appropriation that gained steam in recent years. In all these respects it all seemed very science fiction-y to me, like something out of a Bradbury novel.
Drawing from history, economics, philosophy and sociology the author presents a series of arguments concerning a different conceptions of the original-copy dichotomy, ancient Chinese practices of imperial garden design, the concept of "simulacrascape", and the role of PRC as a up and coming world hegemon.
"it is precisely the act of borrowing these alien templates and reconstructing them on such an extensive scale that could only have emerged out of China, where a combination of power, philosophy, ambition, wealth, need, and desire came together to provide a uniquely hospitable environment in which these livable 'theme park' [but with permanent suspension of disbelief] enclaves could thrive."
The author presents her arguments in an almost journalistic manner (owing to her background), which makes the study very compelling and easy to follow. B. L. Bosker also provided some gorgeous photography for the book. Overall 'Original Copies' gives insight into a radically alien practice, that raises many questions relevant to our own field of heritage and urban planing.
At first, the whole idea of copycat architecture in China seemed absurd to me, since cultural heritage in museology and monument conservation theory primarily has a testimonial function and plays an educational and identity establishing role, and is ergo voided of original meaning if transplanted from its original context. In this respect photos of the Eiffel tower in Zhejiang Province, China seem eerie. Besides my studies I was also wary of the phenomenon because of the discourse surrounding cultural appropriation that gained steam in recent years. In all these respects it all seemed very science fiction-y to me, like something out of a Bradbury novel.
Drawing from history, economics, philosophy and sociology the author presents a series of arguments concerning a different conceptions of the original-copy dichotomy, ancient Chinese practices of imperial garden design, the concept of "simulacrascape", and the role of PRC as a up and coming world hegemon.
"it is precisely the act of borrowing these alien templates and reconstructing them on such an extensive scale that could only have emerged out of China, where a combination of power, philosophy, ambition, wealth, need, and desire came together to provide a uniquely hospitable environment in which these livable 'theme park' [but with permanent suspension of disbelief] enclaves could thrive."
The author presents her arguments in an almost journalistic manner (owing to her background), which makes the study very compelling and easy to follow. B. L. Bosker also provided some gorgeous photography for the book. Overall 'Original Copies' gives insight into a radically alien practice, that raises many questions relevant to our own field of heritage and urban planing.
January 29, 2019
An interesting essay on the exquisitely Chinese phenomenon of duplitecture. Quite useful to understand the meaning of simulacra architecture in contemporary China and its cultural roots: this work is a remarkable effort to see through western prejudices to truly understand what "authenticity" and "western architecture" means in the discussion around contemporary architecture in China.
Good bibliographical research, also, and very enjoyable to read.
Good bibliographical research, also, and very enjoyable to read.
March 13, 2025
In Original Copies, Bianca Bosker examines the phenomenon of Chinese architectural mimicry - entire residential complexes, indeed townships, that are built to resemble Western cities - Paris, Dorchester, Venice, Amsterdam, London, New York, Los Angeles.
While some might regard such developments with horror, viewing them as the ultimate in tackiness, kitsch and tastelessness, Bosker argues that stems from a very Western frame of reference. The West regards originality as legitimate and authentic; imitations by contrast are seen as derivative, unimaginative, inferior and therefore less valuable. By contrast, she argues that the Chinese have long taken a more nuanced view of imitation, seeing imitation along a spectrum from mo2 (to trace) and lin2 (to copy), to fang3 (to imitate) and zao4 (to invent). Bosker suggests that in contrast to the West and their commitment to the "culture of the original", for the Chinese, copies and models can capture the essence of the original. Therein lies the value of copies and the skill of the copyist.
Bosker notes that Chinese architectural mimicry goes beyond adopting Western styles and planning norms; the Chinese have literally transplanted an alien way of living. By transplanting Western single-family homes with basements, Chinese developers have broken with Chinese tradition which views "basements [as]…abominations, for in Chinese lore, the act of digging into the ground is associated with death and burial and, moreover, is discouraged by the rules of fengshui….which forbid excavation on the premise that it will disrupt the flow of qi."
But even if imitation and mimicry is not regarded as inferior and derivative in China, it doesn't quite explain why this wholesale transplanting of Western landscapes into China. Bosker suggests that "the wholesale gravitation of the newly urbanised and newly wealthy population towards the foreign architectural styles of simulacra cityscapes has been linked to an identity and creativity crisis in Chinese architecture." Communist rule suppressed individual design, and the fields of architecture and urban design, viewing these as capitalist indulgences. China's rapid urbanisation following economic reform required China to import technologies and approaches from elsewhere.
Bosker argues that Chinese developers' preference towards cityscapes drawn from New York and Los Angeles, or Victorian London, the Italian Renaissance and the Paris of Hausmann (as opposed to say Chicago or exotic Bali) reflects their desire to invoke associations with power and influence. By contrast, references to Chinese architecture from, say, pre-Communist times, bring to mind memories of China's struggles what with the Opium War, the Sino-Japanese War, etc. Made in China in China itself does not invoke pride. Indeed, Bosker adds that the wholesale replication of foreign towns is a means of "exerting mastery…over current [competitors]", of "appropriating and transcending the colonial past".
It took me a while to put together that Bianca Bosker is the same person who wrote Cork Dork, a deep dive into the world of sommeliers and oenophiles. Surprising because while Cork Dork's style was very much in line with Bosker's background journalist, Original Copies had a much more (convoluted) academic style, reminding me of the sociology texts I used to plough through as a postgrad. Like:
"While the device of architectural and urban mimicry is typologically not unique, the uses to which it is put by a given culture at a given time are often distinctive in the sense that they satisfy a specific set of symbolic and pragmatic agendas and are symptomatic of shifts in the 'deep' structure of the society in which they circulate. So what might distinguish China's current and fervid simulacra-building movement? This book proceeds from the paradoxical premise that in the way it copies the West. Contemporary China manifests its tremendous originality."
An interesting read overall.
While some might regard such developments with horror, viewing them as the ultimate in tackiness, kitsch and tastelessness, Bosker argues that stems from a very Western frame of reference. The West regards originality as legitimate and authentic; imitations by contrast are seen as derivative, unimaginative, inferior and therefore less valuable. By contrast, she argues that the Chinese have long taken a more nuanced view of imitation, seeing imitation along a spectrum from mo2 (to trace) and lin2 (to copy), to fang3 (to imitate) and zao4 (to invent). Bosker suggests that in contrast to the West and their commitment to the "culture of the original", for the Chinese, copies and models can capture the essence of the original. Therein lies the value of copies and the skill of the copyist.
Bosker notes that Chinese architectural mimicry goes beyond adopting Western styles and planning norms; the Chinese have literally transplanted an alien way of living. By transplanting Western single-family homes with basements, Chinese developers have broken with Chinese tradition which views "basements [as]…abominations, for in Chinese lore, the act of digging into the ground is associated with death and burial and, moreover, is discouraged by the rules of fengshui….which forbid excavation on the premise that it will disrupt the flow of qi."
But even if imitation and mimicry is not regarded as inferior and derivative in China, it doesn't quite explain why this wholesale transplanting of Western landscapes into China. Bosker suggests that "the wholesale gravitation of the newly urbanised and newly wealthy population towards the foreign architectural styles of simulacra cityscapes has been linked to an identity and creativity crisis in Chinese architecture." Communist rule suppressed individual design, and the fields of architecture and urban design, viewing these as capitalist indulgences. China's rapid urbanisation following economic reform required China to import technologies and approaches from elsewhere.
Bosker argues that Chinese developers' preference towards cityscapes drawn from New York and Los Angeles, or Victorian London, the Italian Renaissance and the Paris of Hausmann (as opposed to say Chicago or exotic Bali) reflects their desire to invoke associations with power and influence. By contrast, references to Chinese architecture from, say, pre-Communist times, bring to mind memories of China's struggles what with the Opium War, the Sino-Japanese War, etc. Made in China in China itself does not invoke pride. Indeed, Bosker adds that the wholesale replication of foreign towns is a means of "exerting mastery…over current [competitors]", of "appropriating and transcending the colonial past".
It took me a while to put together that Bianca Bosker is the same person who wrote Cork Dork, a deep dive into the world of sommeliers and oenophiles. Surprising because while Cork Dork's style was very much in line with Bosker's background journalist, Original Copies had a much more (convoluted) academic style, reminding me of the sociology texts I used to plough through as a postgrad. Like:
"While the device of architectural and urban mimicry is typologically not unique, the uses to which it is put by a given culture at a given time are often distinctive in the sense that they satisfy a specific set of symbolic and pragmatic agendas and are symptomatic of shifts in the 'deep' structure of the society in which they circulate. So what might distinguish China's current and fervid simulacra-building movement? This book proceeds from the paradoxical premise that in the way it copies the West. Contemporary China manifests its tremendous originality."
An interesting read overall.
October 21, 2024
I read this book because the author's later works are so good - but that is not the case here. The prose is extremely dense and written from the perspective of a scientific researcher, which makes it extremely dry and nearly unreadable. Also, the publisher's decision to use a very small font is a bad one; they should have gone with a larger font and allowed the book to be a few extra pages longer, just from a readability perspective. Not recommended.
January 3, 2022
Interesting concepts. A little old-fashioned combining traditional Chinese concepts on a grand scale. Interesting perspectives with interviews and insights.
February 24, 2013
Original Copies describes a phenomenon I did not even know existed. Apparently, in China, it's not uncommon to build large housing tracts that look like Tuscany or Paris or Manhattan. It's not an amusement park -- people live there, in houses that on the outside look like Italian palazzos or Tudor style houses. There are hundreds of units in these communities and they are copied from the originals meticulously. It's quite remarkable.
Bianca Bosker includes plenty of photographs in the book, which is a good thing, because it seems slightly unbelievable. She explores the philosophy behind this and interviews some of the residents and the people involved in building and selling these houses.
While the idea of Disneyland-like housing tracts is fascinating, it does shed some light on other Chinese activities of late. The hacking scandal that has been revealed recently seems downright criminal to us, but it may be a different way of looking at the world. Bosker describes how some Chinese researchers who were examining potential locations to copy rubbed local residents the wrong way by taking pictures and measurements, etc. without telling the locals what they were doing. It seemed sneaky to Westerners but obviously not to the Chinese who seemed surprised at the reaction. She reminds us that Chinese manufacturers often make copies of foreign products and Chinese consumers like them better than the originals and there is no apparent attempt to pretend that the copies are anything other than copies, just like the fake Venetian canals and the fake Eiffel Towers.
Bianca Bosker includes plenty of photographs in the book, which is a good thing, because it seems slightly unbelievable. She explores the philosophy behind this and interviews some of the residents and the people involved in building and selling these houses.
While the idea of Disneyland-like housing tracts is fascinating, it does shed some light on other Chinese activities of late. The hacking scandal that has been revealed recently seems downright criminal to us, but it may be a different way of looking at the world. Bosker describes how some Chinese researchers who were examining potential locations to copy rubbed local residents the wrong way by taking pictures and measurements, etc. without telling the locals what they were doing. It seemed sneaky to Westerners but obviously not to the Chinese who seemed surprised at the reaction. She reminds us that Chinese manufacturers often make copies of foreign products and Chinese consumers like them better than the originals and there is no apparent attempt to pretend that the copies are anything other than copies, just like the fake Venetian canals and the fake Eiffel Towers.
March 3, 2014
Fascinating book about a relatively new Chinese building trend. It is a strange and disorienting experience to visit some of the sites described in the book. Upward striving conspicuous consumption happens everywhere. Veblen lives. Read it to get a totally different perspective on China.
July 9, 2013
one of the most interesting books i have read all year.
July 3, 2014
Interesting to scan but I wouldn't keep it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews