"Originality is dead" is not an uncommon phrase to hear in our modern, information packed era of Big Data and easy access to source material. If you take a look at Google?s Ngram Viewer, the use of the word "originality" appears to have waned; it is now roughly as common as it was at in 1800, with its peak use occurring just before 1900. So what was going on around that peak time" In 1893, the first moving pictures were played; in 1989, the first escalator was installed; in 1899, aspirin was invented; and 1901 saw the first wireless transmission sent from England to Canada. [1]

© Ariana Zilliacus. Original work using images by <a href='http://www.archdaily.com/448774/heydar-aliyev-center-zaha-hadid-architects'>Iwan Baan</a>, <a href='http://snohetta.com/project/42-norwegian-national-opera-and-ballet'>Jens Passoth</a>, <a href='http://www.archdaily.com/384289/serpentine-pavilion-sou-fujimoto'>Daniel Portilla</a> and <a href='http://www.archdaily.com/339893/bigs-waste-to-energy-plant-breaks-ground-breaks-schemas'>BIG</a>
"Originality is dead" is not an uncommon phrase to hear in our modern, information packed era of Big Data and easy access to source material. If you take a look at Google?s Ngram Viewer, the use of the word "originality" appears to have waned; it is now roughly as common as it was at in 1800, with its peak use occurr...