From Rome to Yamoussoukro

The reproduction of architectural monuments on an authentic scale and in design, or modified as an allusion to the original, is a production of a fake. The global presence of “duplitecture” raises the question—a key concern in this first tba issue—whether a fake bears truth, and how this paradox can be explained. This short article, based on my long-term research on the Neobaroque, analyzes the principles of contemporary architectural fake (re)production, made visible in the photographic and video work Doppel of the German artist, Caspar Stracke. Doppel, “duplicates” in English, is a series produced in three phases, beginning in 2004, continuing in 2009, and concluding in 2019 (at an exhibition in the Künstlerhaus Frise in Hamburg). It thematizes a cultural practice known in many epochs and cultures of the world. In this article, I’ll focus on just one panel, entitled “Rome to Yamoussoukro."