Everlasting Not So Big House?

As we ring in the new year, online Architectural websites post a variety of articles on 2012 including the "Buzz-worthy Buildings of 2012" many of which were in China including the Dalian International Conference Center where I used to live in Dalian, China.  Looking through these articles I happened upon one that seemed particularly interesting on Endangered Buildings We Hope Make it through 2013.  Many of these buildings were used for their original purpose only for brief periods of time before being abandoned and vandalized, including The Casa sobre el Arroyo by Amancio Williams, National Art Schools by Ricardo Porro, and works by Frank Lloyd Wright.  As someone who used to work as an interpreter for the Robie House in Hyde Park I feel I have a unique understanding of this dilemma.  Many of these buildings are amazing works of art, like beautiful portraits which Frank Lloyd Wright compared the Robie House to as he tried to save it from demolition.  On the other hand these buildings were totally useless for their original intent.  The Robie House, for example, had a basement that flooded and close to no storage space whatsoever, these are just two examples of the lists of reasons I can see for these buildings to no longer be wanted as anything else aside from a Historic Landmark.

The fact that these uniquely designed buildings are now endangered makes me question the designing of unique buildings.  In constructing a Not So Big House as opposed to a house that looks very similar in many ways to that of its neighbors does one diminish the opportunity for such a house to be resold?  Is one not simply increasing the likelihood that such a building would be torn down in order to be built to someone else's needs?  Should we, like was being done in Dalian when I left, construct buildings that won't last longer than 10 years in order that they can be built to a certain user's needs and then changed for another user?

Yet at the same time I suppose buildings, just like any other artifact, become endangered all the time and it is more important to focus on other aspects, such as the quality of material.  One rather common place material that has recently been changed is concrete.  The prevalence of this material makes it necessary to find ways to use less of it in more efficient ways, as such individuals have done recently.