Frank Gehry's ultramodern project in Arles, which has been in the works since summer 2010, is suddenly on hold. Two of the five building permit requests have been denied by the French National Commission for Historical Sites and Monuments. The best-case scenario is that the starchitect's towers for the Luma Foundation will be delayed by six months.

Last March, the commission expressed concern about Gehry's project, which includes plans for two towers of aluminum foam, one rising 184 feet and the other 121 feet. The commission concluded that the structure would harm the site of the Alyscamps, a Roman cemetery. Officials were also worried that the buildings would block views in the area, specifically of the bell tower of the Saint-Honorat church, which Gauguin depicted on canvas. "These two motives led to a reflection concerning changing the towers' position," François Goven, inspector general of the commission, told Artclair.

After examining the plans, the French culture ministry also expressed fears that the foundations of the towers would be incompatible with the presence of multiple ancient sarcophagi underneath the site. "It was originally a Roman necropolis, from the first century B.C. to the second century A.D., and became more famous after the Roman martyr Saint Genest was buried there," Claude Sintes, director of the Musée Départemental de l'Arles Antique, told the Art Newspaper. "Dante wrote about it in his Divine Comedy." According to Sintes, there are two options: either the towers must be moved or the archaeological remains must be excavated before construction begins.

Many residents of Arles were troubled by the large scale of the buildings, finding them out of sync with the scale and appearance of the town's architecture. They've even earned the unflattering nickname of "beer cans." But the 81-year-old architect told ARTINFO France last fall that he "didn't design these towers at all for shock value. There was already a tower on the site that was taken down." The aluminum foam of the towers is a military product used in the doors of Humvees. Gehry's plan for the Luma Foundation marks the first time that the material has been intended for architectural use.

The Luma Foundation was established by pharmaceutical heiress Maja Hoffman in 2004 with a cultural mission and has been supported by culture minister Frédéric Mitterrand. The foundation's campus is to include exhibition spaces, a study archive, workshops, and a library. The plans originally called for a parking lot as well, but this idea was rejected early on. Hoffman remains optimistic, but humble. In a recent statement, she said that "we are now working with the Arles mayor's office, the prefect, and the ministry of culture and communication, regarding the best way to pursue this project. … We are convinced that ambitious cultural projects, involving a private-public partnership, are possible in France and we hope to find the way to make them possible."

The city of Arles was excited about this big cultural undertaking, but now it seems to be having second thoughts. The ministry of culture is more focused than ever on the scientific interest of the Alyscamps. The Arles mayor's office has now stopped pushing for the Luma project, feeling worried about losing the Alyscamps' place on UNESCO's world heritage list.