10 rejected designs for famous buildings that could have looked completely different (19 photos)
Every major structure goes through the stage of final design approval, where a choice is made from several or even many proposed options. 
Can you imagine what kind of responsibility hangs on people making decisions when it comes to monumental buildings that should last for centuries?
Here are 10 famous man-made objects from around the world and their alternative versions that actually existed and had a chance to be approved. Yes, that would be very unusual!
1. Sydney Opera House 
NeoMam Studios Option 1. 
NeoMam Studios Option 2. 
NeoMam Studios Option 3.
Date of foundation: 1973.
2. Lincoln Memorial, Washington 
catalog.archives
Date of foundation: 1922.
In 1912, architect John Russell Pope proposed building the memorial in the form of a massive pyramid, but the project ultimately moved in a "Greek direction."
3. Statue of Liberty, New York 
MCofPort
Date of foundation: 1886.
Initially, the future main symbol of America was a Muslim woman guarding the newly opened Suez Canal. The monument was called “Egypt Brings Light to Asia”, its sculptor was Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. But the Egyptian authorities abandoned the statue, and its idea was transferred to another project - the same gift to the United States from France, which Gustave Eiffel later joined.
4. Harbor Bridge, Sydney 
NeoMam Studios Option 1. 
NeoMam Studios Option 2.
Date of foundation: 1932.
5. Eiffel Tower, Paris 
neverwasmag
Date of foundation: 1889.
Did you know that it was not Gustave Eiffel who was the designer of the tower, and it was not he who developed its final appearance? This was done by Stéphane Sauvestre, who worked with Eiffel.
6. Capitol, Washington 
historynewsnetwork Option 1. 
historynewsnetwork Option 2.
Date of foundation: 1793.
Not only may the Capitol have looked different, but it actually had a different appearance (compared to today) until the mid-19th century.
You can see exactly how here. This post shows 6 more universally recognizable structures that in past centuries looked completely different from what we are used to.
7. Tower Bridge, London 
londonist
Date of foundation: 1894.
8. Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, USA 
Rise Studio
Date of foundation: 1925.
They wanted to depict the presidents on the mountain from the waist up, but the project ran out of funding.
We wrote about this case in a collection about famous objects that survived events that are not known to everyone.
9. Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco 
Presidio History
Date of foundation: 1937.
10. Arc de Triomphe, Paris 
Aquarelle de Jean-Antoine Alavoine
Date of foundation: 1836.
The Arc de Triomphe could really give way to a huge elephant. The idea originated with Louis XV, but in his years it was not possible to implement it due to the emptiness of the treasury.
Napoleon I, having learned about the project, also considered the idea a good one (he just wanted to build something for the glory of the victories of France), but his advisers dissuaded him from this idea in time.
