This year alone we have learned that a Frank Lloyd Wright house must be moved 1,000 miles to protect it from floodwater, a Le Corbusier chapel has been vandalized and a seminal structure by Micheal Graves may be razed. In a remarkable turnaround, the MoMA has also recently decided to save the entire facade of the American Folk Art Museum, but by dismantling and storing it indefinitely. There is nothing like the threat of utter annihilation to make one wonder: how do we choose what building we preserve, restore and ultimately save? Here are five hot-button buildings generating serious buzz, raising questions both within and beyond the architectural design community.

Frank Lloyd Wright House to be Moved & Reconstructed

First to Frank Lloyd Wright, whose work invariably makes headlines whenever it is at risk of destruction. Thanks to the intervention of the Crystal Bridges Museum (images by Tarantino Studio) in Arkansas, the Bachman Wilson House will be transported from its original location in New Jersey to a site on their campus.

Its owners, Lawrence and Sharon Tarantino, put it on the market hoping for just such a buyer and after spending years restoring the home themselves. This remarkable move will save the structure itself by carefully deconstructing it, transporting its parts then rebuilding piece by piece in a new place.

However, the process  is inevitably partial  and one has to wonder: how will relocating it change the nature of a home designed around a specific site many states away? Is regional architecture truly as portable as this solution implies, and what does it lose forever when taken out of its context?

Le Corbusier Chapel Broken Into, Robbed & Vandalized

An unusual work by one of the world’s most famous architects, the Chapel of Ronchamp by Le Corbusier was reported vandalized earlier. Amid other damage and theft, the destruction of stained glass window drawn (and reportedly signed) by Corbu himself was deemed a “priceless” loss, the colored glazing irreparable.

The building is a destination for tens of thousands of annual tourists. Its sculptural form reflects the architect’s philosophy that while Modernism may be appropriate for most architecture, spiritual structures are an exception.

The shocking break-in leaves open questions: how does one replace an irreplaceable window – with a copy of the original, something commemorating its loss or a new work entirely? And how does one protect against future defacement, particularly in a structure so often open to the public?

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5 Preservation Puzzles Famous Architecture Facing Threats

The Sydney Opera House might have been little more than a squat concrete building resembling a factory, and a visit to the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial could have required scaling a massive stepped pyramid. Ranging from close second-place finishes in design competitions to proposals that were little more than pipe dreams, these alternative designs for 12 major iconic landmarks around the world represent radical departures from the monuments we’re accustomed to.

Sydney Opera House

(images via: new world wonders, wikimedia commons)

The Sydney Opera House is one of the most recognizable buildings in the world, with a dramatic series of vaults rising from the ground along Sydney Harbour. But Danish architect Jørn Utzon’s now-iconic design was controversial when it was first proposed in 1957, and the design that came in second place may have been more palatable to the public. American architect Joseph Marzella’s design was rather industrial in its appearance, but didn’t seem quite so out there.  It’s hard to imagine the magnificent performing arts venue looking so squat and dull.

Triumphal Elephant in Place of Paris’ Arc de Triomphe

(images via: wikimedia commons)

In place of one of Paris’ most famous monuments, the Arc de Triomphe, could have been a three-story elephant monument with a spiral staircase in the underbelly leading to the pinnacle. 18th century architect Charles Ribart offered this monument for the Champs Élysées, complete with a cross-sectional drawing showing the intricate rooms within, but was turned down by the French government.

This isn’t even the only massive, ridiculous elephant statue envisioned for Paris. Originally conceived by Napoleon, the imposing Elephant of the Bastille (third photo) was meant to be cast of bronze and placed in Paris’ Place de la Bastille on the site of the old Bastille prison, which was the birthplace of the French Revolution. A stairway set into the legs would give access to the top, and the base would be surrounded by a fountain. However, only a plaster model was built, as memorialized by Victor Hugo in the novel Les Miserables, and eventually the July Column took its place.

Unbuilt Design for the Golden Gate Bridge

(images via: pbs newshour, wikimedia commons)

Now 76 years old, the Golden Gate Bridge is an iconic symbol of San Francisco, coated in literally millions of gallons of orange paint. The Art Deco-style bridge is one of the longest suspension bridges in the world, beating many experts’ predictions that it wouldn’t last against gale-force winds in the straight where the San Francisco Bay opens to the Pacific Ocean. But this wasn’t engineer Joseph Strauss’ first design. The original proposal is markedly different, with a heavier look combining cantilevered and suspension designs. It was rejected by the planning committee.

Lincoln Memorial Pyramid

(images via: i own the world, wikimedia commons)

Highlighted at Unbuilt Washington, an exhibition at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C., John Russell Pope’s Lincoln Memorial Proposal replaces the columned rectangular building honoring the 16th president with a pyramid. Anyone who wanted to get up close to Abraham Lincoln’s statue would have had to climb that entire thing to reach it. Some historians believe that this proposal was ridiculous on purpose; Pope wasn’t a fan of the swampy location chosen for the memorial, and may have created this and other absurd designs in an effort to encourage the committee to seek a new setting. Pope went on to successfully design the Jefferson Memorial.

Pyramid Necropolis for London’s Primrose Hill

(images via: andrew gough, wikimedia commons)

Infused in the Victorian preoccupation with melancholy and inspired by the Egyptian spoils of traveler and tomb-raider Giovanni Battista Belzoni, London architect Thomas Wilson proposed a massive, 15-acre pyramid-shaped necropolis for the city’s Primrose Hill. The granite pyramid would have towered into the air with 94 tiers of tombs in honeycomb shapes and a base measuring 18 acres, casting a gargantuan shadow over the hill many Londoners use for picnics and looking out over the city. Churchyards were so crowded at the time, that graves were bursting out of the ground – but concerns about what to do with London’s dead weren’t enough to convince the public that a necropolis was a good idea.

White House Alterations for President Harrison

(images via: loc.gov, wikimedia commons)

While he’s not nearly as forgettable as his grandfather, ninth United States President William Henry Harrison – who died after just 32 days in office – many Americans will struggle to recall any of twenty-third President Benjamin Harrison’s achievements during his tenure in the White House. However, Harrison could have made quite a mark. The first President to reside in the White House after it was wired for electricity, Harrison and his First Lady, Caroline Harrison, proposed significant changes to the complex that were never carried out. However, ten years later, Theodore Roosevelt made plenty of changes of his own, including the addition of the West Wing.

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Alternative Landmarks 12 Monuments As They Almost Were

Modern architecture is not exactly known for being ornamental, but some architecture firms are beginning to pick away at the close association of modernism and minimalism. Led by Herzog & De Meuron, many practices have begun pulling bold, graphic and sometimes typographic elements into their building designs. Here are 13 examples of ornamental modern architecture.

Elbe Philharmonic Hall by Herzog & De Meuron

(images via: design boom)

Architecture firm Herzog & De Meuron is one of the main forces bringing some ornamentation back into modern architecture, and the Elbe Philarmonic Hall is a prime example. This concert hall, hotel and apartment complex in Hamburg, Germany looks like a wave shooting up out of the river, blending with its surroundings yet at the same time, standing out as a dramatic glassy pinnacle in the landscape. The building is currently under construction and expected to be completed soon.

John Lewis Department Store and Cineplex, UK

(images via: archinect)

A shimmering geometric silver facade meets glass printed with a beautiful abstracted vine print at the John Lewis Department Store and Cineplex by Foreign Office Architects. The glass allows light to stream into the store section of the building, while the monolithic back end keeps the theaters dark. The design on the glass pays tribute to Leicester’s textile heritage as well as that of the department store.

Lycee Louis Bleriot Extension, France

(images via: archdaily)

What could be an extraordinarily harsh, brutalist concrete rectangle is livened up considerably by a perforation of small diamond-shaped windows. The Lycee Louis Bleriot Extension by Christphe Gulizzi is a gymnasium that had to fit into a very limiting plot.

Scottish Parliament Building by Miralles Tagliabue EMBT, UK

(images via: galinksy)

Divisive and eclectic, the Scottish Parliament Building certainly doesn’t shy away from complexity. Designed by EMBT (Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue), the building cost an astonishing $750 million to construct and is ‘metaphorical’ in design. Explains Miralles, “The Parliament sits in the land. We have the feeling that the building should be land, built out of land. To carve in the land the form of gathering people together… Scotland is a land… The land itself will be a material, a physical building material…”

Tate Modern Expansion by Herzog & De Meuron, UK

(images via: dezeen)

Herzog & De Meuron’s extension to the Tate Modern art museum in London will add a new wing, as well as converting underground tanks previously used to store oil for a former power station into new gallery space. The main volume of the extension resembles a conventional rectangular building shape that has been twisted and skewed.

Art’otel Hoxton by Squire and Partners, UK

(images via: archiscene)

Squire and Partners designed the flagship hotel of Art’otel in London as a gold column covered in a perforated facade full of abstract patterns and rounded cut-outs that make the whole structure shimmer at night.

Forum by Herzog & De Meuron, Spain

(images via: arcspace)

Jutting above a public square like the bow of a massive ship, ‘Forum’ is an elevated triangular structure in Barcelona that invites the public into its reflective silver underbelly. Though the building looks darka nd intimidating approach, it holds a series of courtyards open to the sky that bring in light.

Bella Sky Hotel by 3XN Architects, Denmark

(images via: design boom)

In both its shape and in the complimentary pattern of windows on its exterior, the Bella Sky Hotel by 3XN Architects looks almost typographic. Newly open in Copenhagen, the hotel consists of two asymmetrical towers and looks entirely different depending on your vantage point.

40 Bond by Herzog & De Meuron, NYC

(images via: archdaily)

The standout feature on Herzog & De Meuron’s 40 Bond luxury residence in New York City is unquestionably this graffiti-inspired gate. A one-bedroom apartment in this building reportedly costs $18,000 a month.

C42 Citroen Flagship Showroom by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture, France

(images via: openbuildings)

Diamond-shaped glass in soft shades of pastel pink that compliment the golden light streaming out of the interior characterize the new Citroën showroom on Champs Elysées in Paris. Once inside, that pink turns to red. Say the architects, “We originally conceived the use of red, the brand’s signature colour, in the glass panels but we decided it would be too bright from the outside. There were some concerns about the building not harmonising with its neighbours on the Champs Elysées, so we’ve created a filter that on first sight, masks the red colour from the exterior. This totally original filter, which is cleverly constructed inside the finished glass, also minimises the heat of the sun passing through, and will also create a diaphanous pearly white atmosphere inside the building.”

Sint Lucas Art Academy by Fashion Architecture Taste, Netherlands

(images via: dezeen)

A 1960s building was given a dramatic makeover with a decorative facade inspired by both Dutch gables and the Doge’s palace in Venice, Italy. Architecture firm ‘Fashion Architecture Taste’ gave the Sint Lucas Art Academy an entirely new visual identity.

McCormick Tribune Campus Center by OMA, U.S.

(images via: arcspace)

Working around a pre-existing elevated railway, OMA/Rem Koolhaas created a sound-isolating stainless steel tube that would form the basis of the McCormick Tribune Campus Center expansion at the Illinois Institute of Technology. The campus was originally designed by Mies Van der Rohe, whose portrait is emblazoned large on exterior and interior walls.

Midrash by Isay Weinfeld, Brazil

(images via: openbuildings)

Designed to house the Jewish Congregation of Brazil, the Midrash Building by Isay Weinfeld in Rio de Janeiro has a fiberglass mesh facade made up of Hebrew words.

Placebo Pharmacy by Klab Architects, Greece

(images via: archdaily)

The shape and decorative elements of Placebo Pharmacy by KLab is about as far from Walgreens as you can get. In this case, the perforated mesh facade on the exterior is covered in braille.