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Remixing Architecture: Copyright & Fair Use: Homage

This guide will help clarify inspiration & plagiarism in the visual arts including architecture, art, & design.

Homage

Homage means "to give or pay tribute" (Oxford English Dictionary)​.  In design, one would use a work from a previous creator, then using one's own style to create something new.  One must be clear in interpretation of the original and not just a copy of the original, showing a degree of transformation.   Colin Ruffell, UK artist and Past Master of the Guild, suggests sticking to the 'old dead masters' to pay homage.

Examples of Homage:

Left: Fancisco de Goya, Saturn Devouring His Children, 1819-1823.  Oil on canvas, 146 x 83 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain.  https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/saturn/18110a75-b0e7-430c-bc73-2a4d55893bd6.

Right: Gabriel Navar, app for extreme times, 2012.  Acrylic, oil, ink, and pencils on paper, 24 x 18 in. http://gabrielnavar.com/homages.htm


Left: Wright, Frank Lloyd and Eddie Oribin, Architects, David Apri, photographer. Robie House, University of Chicago, IL, 1910. https://www.flickr.com/photos/darpi/212323100

Right: Stephen Jaskowiak, architect, West Studio Architects, photograph.  Harmonic Winds, Geneva, IL, 2016. https://www.flickr.com/photos/148635083@N05/32582215424.