Is the Internet's Appetite for Sexy Renderings Hurting Architecture?

Last fall, a public art competition invited designers around the world to dream up a temporary summer pavilion that could inject some life into Flint, Michigan, a city regularly ranked as one of the U.S.'s "most dangerous" and still plagued by repercussions of the housing crisis. The winning entry was "Mark’s House," an elevated dwelling designed to reflect—quite literally, through a coating of mirror-like Mylar material—what the city has experienced.

Since it was completed in August, responses to "Mark's House" have been fairly negative. Residents are calling it a mess, or "an eyesore." And a big part of that reaction appears to be the direct result of just how different the finished product turned out compared to the original concept renderings. See for yourself: