A court ruled to demolish a cafe building in Ulsan that was built in imitation of a famous cafe building in Gijang-gun, Busan, which won the World Architecture Award.
During the lawsuit, Ulsan Cafe claimed, “Only the parts that can recognize the creativity of the building should be separated and discarded.”
The court ordered compensation of 50 million won and complete demolition, saying, “It is impossible to separate and discard only the parts that have substantial similarities.”
There was a welcoming atmosphere in the industry as it was the first time a demolition order was issued due to plagiarism of a building.
However, as it is the result of last year’s first trial ruling and is being appealed, the building in question is still operating steadily with a 1-star rating.