Why don't modern buildings last?

[whatever I feel like]

I haven’t been through Houston TX in a long while but you might want to check with someone from down there because I don’t think the Astrodome has been torn down. They may have gutted it and knocked down the entrance ramps to it but last I heard the Astrodome is still standing.

Wow, I'm shocked to be honest. I remember a post by Curator of Shit (or whatever that site was) about how 50 years on from Penn Station's demolition we want it back but were about to demolish a similarly important structure that was built in that same year. And yet here it is, somehow not yet demolished. Hope it lasts forever as it truly is of architectural significance.

 

[reptile baht spaniard rid]

Moisture. It’s moisture that destroys buildings. It seeps in and rots and freezes and just does everything.

Houses build from stone don’t really care as long as they are maintained, old wood houses dry out and keep going.

Modern US houses up until very recently kept getting more and more water and air tight leading to all sorts of horrible internal damage.

And then it’s cheaper to tear down (probably filled with asbestos, too) and rebuild.

Much of Europe’s buildings didn’t last because they all got bombed to shit in the war. Welp.

 

[SwanSwanson]

I want to become an architect and fix this problem. But I know full well this isn't a possibility at whatever shitty firm I end up working at I'm won't be able to introduce victorian buildings or anything really interesting, maybe when I rise up to be a manager I can change it and by then I'll be 50.

You know what this means right, by the year 2052 we'll finally make high quality buildings!

 

[LeroyJenkem]

- Most of the stout, old growth timber has been used up, leaving shitty farm grown 2x4s as the primary stud material

- In the old days, they used rail road timbers and field stone for foundation and joist materials, nowadays they use spancrete panels and steel beams. Many floor joists in new constructions are that particle board infused dogshit.

- Lumber is smaller (1.5x3.5 is NOT 2x4) and spaced further apart. If you've ever remodeled an old farm house, they used to use reclaimed barn wood for wall studs and then use lath/plaster (which adds a lot to structural rigidity) in lieu of drywall. Everything was over built back then because they didn't want the fucker to fall apart.

- Many things were done by hand and therefore proper time and attention could be taken to do it right. Buildings go up in a fraction of the time it used to take, and you have trades stepping on each other's dicks trying to meet almost impossible deadlines that can be punished by hefty fines by the GC for holding the project behind.

I'm sure I could keep going but I just got off work and I'm tired as fuck. You get the idea. Bad materials, bad engineering, rushed work. Everyone is trying to save money and a lot of turds get erected as a result.

 

[1Tonka_Truck]

The Astrodome is a bad example. It was one of the baseball/football dual use stadiums that never worked. It was a football stadium that survived 18 years without a football team...

Oh, and it hasn't been demolished. Only the helixes added in in 90s were demoed.