Eh. It made more sense hundreds of years ago for people to build houses that lasted for centuries. That kind of construction makes sense in periods of slow technological and social change.
But think of how differently people live now vs just a hundred years ago. Imagine buying a house without running water, electric wiring, or insulation. Sure, old homes can be renovated to have these. But that requires tearing the thing down to the bare stone or wood walls and starting from scratch. You have to gut the entire building. The only thing that remains is the shell, a shell which represents only 20% of the cost of the building, if that. Most of the cost of a building is not in the structure itself, yet that’s the only part that gets saved in a complete gutting and renovation.
If you build a house today that lasts centuries, the only way that house will still be occupied 300 years from now is if it’s been gutted down to the studs multiple times over the generations. And at that point, why build an ultra-durable house in the first place? Why not build something lighter that requires fewer resources up front, and can simply be torn down and recycled once it’s become obsolete?
yeah you’re right, one of the reason why a lot of houses in the US today are built rather thin and lightweight (think wooden structures, cardboard-thin walls) is because it is not clear whether the houses would even want to be inhabited in 100 years. not just because of technological change, but also because there could be population declines. not only is the total birthrate in the US today declining rapidly and far below replacement levels, which will lead to a declining population number in the future, but there is also a lot of migration within the US. think for example of all the towns in the rust belt, where economy used to be very active in the 1900 while now it’s essentially a dead area. the production and industry has shifted to the coastlines, and it might continue to shift, so building a house today that lasts for centuries, if people stop being interested in living there in 50 years, might not be wise.
Eh. It made more sense hundreds of years ago for people to build houses that lasted for centuries. That kind of construction makes sense in periods of slow technological and social change.
But think of how differently people live now vs just a hundred years ago. Imagine buying a house without running water, electric wiring, or insulation. Sure, old homes can be renovated to have these. But that requires tearing the thing down to the bare stone or wood walls and starting from scratch. You have to gut the entire building. The only thing that remains is the shell, a shell which represents only 20% of the cost of the building, if that. Most of the cost of a building is not in the structure itself, yet that’s the only part that gets saved in a complete gutting and renovation.
If you build a house today that lasts centuries, the only way that house will still be occupied 300 years from now is if it’s been gutted down to the studs multiple times over the generations. And at that point, why build an ultra-durable house in the first place? Why not build something lighter that requires fewer resources up front, and can simply be torn down and recycled once it’s become obsolete?
yeah you’re right, one of the reason why a lot of houses in the US today are built rather thin and lightweight (think wooden structures, cardboard-thin walls) is because it is not clear whether the houses would even want to be inhabited in 100 years. not just because of technological change, but also because there could be population declines. not only is the total birthrate in the US today declining rapidly and far below replacement levels, which will lead to a declining population number in the future, but there is also a lot of migration within the US. think for example of all the towns in the rust belt, where economy used to be very active in the 1900 while now it’s essentially a dead area. the production and industry has shifted to the coastlines, and it might continue to shift, so building a house today that lasts for centuries, if people stop being interested in living there in 50 years, might not be wise.