With its brushed stainless steel shell, gull-wing doors and low, wide profile, the DeLorean was an exotic creature.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Magazine | Wings of desire

The arena-in-progress resembles a rusty turtle, a shell of weathered steel and glass lurching its way into the intersection like it wants to cross the street and buy a dryer at P.

WSJ: Jason Gay: Brooklyn's Big and Tall Wait

He has suggested a steel frame and a stone outer shell, leaving enough space for stairways, lifts and service ducts leading to the space in the pediment above, and a basement - possibly a nightclub - linking the arch with the existing stone lodges on either side.

BBC: 'Romantic' attempt to save lost arch

While the foundations were being dug, a steel-and-timber-framed shell of the house was built off-site.

WSJ: Striking Gold in the Backyard