In a recent research project, an answer to the following questions was sought: 1) Are very symmetrical monuments susceptible to dangerous modes and if so, what do the distortion patterns look like? 2) Is it thus possible to account for the damage done to monuments that are neither threatened by horizontal drift nor by vertical torsion? The prototype used for this research was deduced from the development of the historical evolution of the Armenian church, on which the effect of natural selection must have played an important role. The experiments were done on a simulation maquette of gypsum, submitted to subsequent modal analysis. A single excitation with a hammer allowed a Fourier-analyzer to visualize the distortion patterns for each inherent mode. Such experiments could, in collaboration with historians, make a new reading of architectural typology throughout the ages, but they can also help us to regain the precise old science that has disappeared in the course of history.