The Guggenheim Bilbao proved that a single starchitect project can transform a whole city, but most cities that try to copy that model end up with expensive white elephants. I've seen this happen in my hometown where a 200 million euro museum draws fewer visitors than expected. Does iconic architecture actually deliver long-term economic benefits, or does it just look good in photos for five years? The Bilbao effect is real, but we rarely talk about the cities where it failed — and those failures are just as instructive.