Original Copycat Architecture (2024)
Forking Room 2024: <Hyper Super X-large … Boom!>
Commissioned Artist
Team: Junwoo Choi, Seongjae Ahn
Role: Team Leader
Forking Room 2024: <Hyper Super X-large … Boom!>
Commissioned Artist
Team: Junwoo Choi, Seongjae Ahn
Role: Team Leader
Originality and Plagiarism in the Age of AI Synthesis
As Friedrich Kittler said, media shape our circumstances—a notion as relevant in today’s architecture as ever, with the proliferation of AI-generated images. The architecture industry is currently grappling with an uptick in plagiarism disputes. Yet, architecture goes beyond simple aesthetic appreciation, laying the foundation of society and meeting fundamental human needs. The creation of entirely new works in architecture is nearly impossible due to the myriad of technical and legal constraints. This raises a question: in a world devoid of novelty, are the intellectual property rights in architecture merely stringent benchmarks set by the established architects? This exhibition boldly advocates for and delves into the potential of AI-generated architecture, while addressing related controversies over plagiarism. Emulating a white-hat hacker who reveals security vulnerabilities, the author aims to shift observers' subjective perceptions, which underpin most copyright conflicts under intellectual property law.
Link: https://www.forkingroom.kr/forkingroom2024/info
Free Center by Kim Swoo-Geun (1964)
+
Chandigarh Capitol Complex by Le Corbusier (1961)
=
Kim Corbusier (2024)
Endogamy
“Endogamy” is an original series that collects 128 pairs of well-known architectural works from both domestic and international sources, each pair selected for its suspected plagiarism or notable similarities. Each pair is then synthesized into new architectural images using generative AI. This series demonstrates that the works of famous architects who claim originality may not be entirely original. It also argues that buildings created by artificial intelligence can indeed possess their own unique qualities, challenging traditional notions of architectural originality.
Copycat Apartment
“Copycat Apartment” pays homage to James Wines’ “Highrise of Homes.” Each building is generated by converting 128 2D images from the “Endogamy” series into 3D meshes using the SV3D model, then voxelizing them. The structures are arranged in a 4X4X8 grid based on similarity, each possessing neighbors that are neither completely identical nor entirely different. This contrasts with the repetitive nature of typical Korean apartments, arguing that the diverse architectural environments created through generative AI need not be viewed negatively.
Plagiarism Network
The “Plagiarism Network” visualizes the visual features of 128 AI-generated architectural images from the “Endogamy” series. This is done by extracting features using the EfficientNet-B7 CNN model, then visualizing the high-dimensional data in 3D space using the t-SNE dimensionality reduction algorithm. Through this, buildings are clustered based on similarity, with each connected to its five most similar counterparts,forming a complex network. In today’s era, where architecture is digitalized and interconnected through the internet, no building globally can escape this plagiarism analysis network.
Architectural Annotation
“Architectural Annotation” visualizes the similarity of keywords and objects in architectural drawings and photos as percentages, using the YOLO-World model. It argues that there is no such thing as completely new work in architecture and explores the potential of applying annotation methods from academic papers to architectural design. This new approach of design through citation could bring a paradigm shift in the architectural design process.
Devil’s Advocate
“Devil’s Advocate” refers to individuals who propose opinions contrary to mainstream views to deepen the discussion. “Devil’s Advocate” brings in quotes from historical figures to deliberately attack the weaknesses of originality and explores strategies and logic that can circumvent originality.