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Every intellectual endeavor relies upon an existing body of knowledge, proven and primed for reuse. Historically, this appropriation has been regulated through quotation. Academics trade epigraphs and footnotes while designers refer to precedents and manifestos. These citations-written or spoken, drawn or built-rely on their antecedent, and carry the stamp of authority. In the field of architecture, appropriation is faster, easier, and more conspicuous than ever, but also less regulated. These displacements are no longer self-referential games. Instead, buildings are copied before construction is completed. Digital scripts are downloaded, altered, and re-uploaded-transposing the algorithm, not the object itself. Design bloggers "curate" texts and images-copying and pasting, copying and pasting. In the sea of memes and GIFs, tweets and retweets, quotes are both innumerable and viral, giving voice to anyone with access to these channels. This issue of Perspecta-the oldest and most distinguished student-edited architectural journal in America-explores the uneasy lines between quotation, appropriation, and plagiarism, proposing a constructive reevaluation of contemporary means of architectural production and reproduction.

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Russell LeStourgeon is a graduate of the Yale School of Architecture. AJ Artemel is a graduate of the Yale School of Architecture. Violette de la Selle is a graduate of the Yale School of Architecture

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