Free Republic

President Macron’s speech to the French nation about the fire that destroyed so much of Notre Dame contained a terrible threat: he said that the cathedral would be rebuilt, to be even more beautiful than before. This might seem an innocuous, even laudable aim, but the announcement of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe that a competition would be held to design “a spire suited to the techniques and challenges of our time” should send a chill down the spine of anyone familiar with the efforts of modern architects in Paris, the effects of which can be seen all around the city....

"The reconstruction of the cathedral was a symbol of the resurrection of Russia, a sign of hope for better times for the people who had turned away from God, but are now returning to Him." On December 5, 1931, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow was destroyed by the Bolsheviks. It was built more than half a century after Russia's 1812 victory over the French, and was in use for about the same length of time. Under the Soviets, this cathedral, Russia's largest, was destroyed in just one day. In its place, they planned to build a Palace...

A property owner who illegally demolished a 1936 Twin Peaks house designed by a renowned modernist must rebuild an exact replica of the home rather than the much larger structure the property owner had proposed replacing it with, the City Planning Commission ruled this week. In a unanimous 5-0 vote late Thursday night, the commission also ordered that the property owner — Ross Johnston, through his 49 Hopkins LLC — include a sidewalk plaque telling the story of the original house designed by architect Richard Neutra, the demolition and the replica. The commission directive, unprecedented in San Francisco, comes more...

President Andrew Jackson took a keen interest in the construction of the federal mint in Philadelphia, a grand, columned edifice, inspired by the temples of ancient Greece, that opened in 1833. Jackson was not a man known for his appreciation of cultural and artistic pursuits. A populist who famously railed against the elites, he had initially wanted to construct a simple building for minting money quickly, because there was a severe shortage of specie—coins—in the country at the time. Gradually, though, he came around to the idea of a grander mint, and became personally involved in many aspects of the...

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- If a "community grid" is chosen to replace Interstate 81 in downtown Syracuse, what will happen to the land that's now under the aging viaduct's shadow? Whether it will be turned into green space or developed commercially is still an open question, according to city and state officials. A group of local architects is hoping to force the issue. The local chapter of the American Institute of Architects estimated in a recent paper that 18.6 acres of land will be made available if the 1.4-mile elevated highway is taken down. Taking the viaduct down and beefing up...

Residents in Guiyang city, south-west China, thought they were imagining things when they saw a massive waterfall cascading out of a high-rise building in the middle of the street. In fact, the 108-metre-tall (350ft) fall is indeed a part of the towering Liebian Building, located at a public plaza in the city's central business district. A large tank is installed at the foot of the 121-meter-tall (397ft) skyscraper, where four 185-kilowatt pumps would lift the water to the top of the fall.

Picture a giant elephant with a waterfall cascading from its trunk right in the heart of Paris. Or an Antoni Gaudi work in New York City, a pyramid in Tokyo, or a mile-high Frank Lloyd Wright skyscraper among the Chicago skyline. These architectural dreams never came to be, but that didn't stop the artists at NeoMan Studios to envision how these projects would have changed these cities. Here's a look at seven of the world’s wildest unbuilt icons and what they would like like today.

Not since the Windsor Castle fire has there been a makeover of one of our national treasures on such a scale. Indeed, the restoration of Chatsworth House has cost only a few million pounds less than the £37 million lavished on the castle. However, the facelift of Chatsworth, in Derbyshire — where Keira Knightley’s heart as Miss Bennet first fluttered over the brooding Mr Darcy in the big-screen version of Pride And Prejudice — was prompted not by adversity but because its owner, the Duke of Devonshire, had no wifi. That became the trigger for the biggest, costliest and longest...

Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral is in a dismal state of disrepair and needs $70 million for urgent renovations, according to Michel Picaud, head of Friends of Notre Dame de Paris. One possible solution for the famous church and other religious monuments is to ask patrons to pay an entrance fee, but so far the Church has been against that. Taking a tour of the decrepit parts of the cathedral (its construction began in the 1100s), is a long, breathtaking and dispiriting experience. Around the back of the cathedral, Picaud points to a collection of stones – including finely worked pinnacles...

From coast to coast, places of worship span nearly every architectural style, whether it’s a futuristic church in rural Indiana designed by one of Finland’s greatest architects (Eero Saarinen) or the recently restored Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Unity Temple in suburban Chicago. Mormon temples’ spires soar into the skyline and some Jewish temples are shapely in style, whether it’s a modern box or in perfect pitch with Feng Shui’s curvy chi. And no matter how many decades it’s been since their construction, a tiny steeple in the woods will never slip out of vogue.

This tiny house has furniture folded inside its walls, mimicking the functionality of a Swiss Army Knife. The ninety-six-square-foot building, which cost just £35,000 to build, starts out consisting of a single white room with no decor in sight. But as the walls are unfolded its true functionality emerges. It has a bed that folds down and an ingenious kitchen area, complete with a hob, cupboard space and a table and chairs for entertaining guests. A bathroom, complete with a luxurious shower, can even be pulled out through a small gap in the wall.

Earning his fortune during the Internet boom of the 90s and early 2000s, Greenstein's home features 13 themed bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, a 40,000 gallon pool along with a river hundreds of other amazing luxuries. Situated at the end of a dirt road near a cow pasture in rural Florida, visitors are first greeted with a Monopoly Man hanging from the roof and a giant UNO card fixed above a window. Through the front door, a life size chessboard and giant floor piano await new arrivals.

A new aerial video has provided a rare glimpse into a mysterious Chinese village where residents have lived in subterranean 'pit yards' for some four millennia. The series of underground dwellings in central China's Henan Province used to have nearly 10,000 homes. Right now, around 3,000 people still live there while the others have moved to modern homes, according to Chinese media.

This home hides an amazing secret - it has a lazy river running all the way through it. The three buildings at the impressive house are connected by a 90-foot stream. It means the owners can swim from the living room to the dining room and then float to the bedroom come nighttime.

A Hong Kong architect has invented what he believed to be the solution of overcrowded cities by turning concrete water pipes into tiny homes. The OPod Tube Housing system aims to re-purpose concrete tubes measuring just over eight feet in diameter, and turn them into 'micro-homes' with 100 square feet of living space. It is the brainchild of architect James Law of James Law Cybertecture who designed the build as a possible solution to the lack of both space and affordable housing in Hong Kong.

A mile-high skyscraper, a dome covering most of downtown Manhattan, a triumphal arch in the form of an elephant - some of the most exciting buildings in the history of architecture are the ones that were never built. A new book, Phantom Architecture, reveals the stories behind more than 50 unbuilt structures, describing how they were conceived, exploring their incredible variety and showing how they went on to inspire other architects who created some of Britain's best known landmarks. Phantom Architecture also shows how London could have looked should some architects have had their way - including a pyramid cemetery...

The ancestral home of poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge's family which was also used by Oliver Cromwell as he built his Civil War army has gone on the market for offers over £7m. The Chanters House in Ottery St Mary, Devon, was owned by the Coleridge family from the late 18th century until 2006 and still houses the impressive Coleridge book collection in the grand 70ft library. The stunning property - on the market with Strutt & Parker - comes with more than 21 acres and earns an income thanks to renewable energy sources which the current owners have installed.

Incredible images have revealed the stunning cabin that could be built into the side of a cliff in Calgary. Spectacular shots show concepts of how the cabin would look with the bedroom situated lower than the rest of the home and huge windows allowing a panoramic view of the drop and countryside. Other striking pictures show the rest of the unique house with a modern kitchen and living area, while parts of the cliff would help form some of the outside walls.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in June 2012 and has been updated with the most recent information. After the construction of the Bay Bridge in 1933, San Francisco began considering duplicating the bridge and running a second one further south across the bay. Enter Frank Lloyd Wright, a little-known architect whose idea and design for a second Bay Bridge never came to fruition. The noted architect hated the idea of a second steel structure similar to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. Partnering with engineer Jaroslav J. Polivka, Wright proposed a concrete "Butterfly Bridge,” spanning from Army Street (now...

Famed engineer Marc Isambard Brunel lost a bid to design the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC, 224 years ago. Now, his design has been revealed after being tucked away in a large album in the Brunel family archive for more than 150 years. The drawing is tipped to sell at the auction in London on Wednesday for $19,600 (£15,000).