Beauty Matters in Buildings
A Facebook friend responded to Facebook comments I made about ugly modern buildings by saying “I agree that older architecture has more charm and maybe even more beauty. But, it does not affect me directly. What DOES affect me is the disintegration and lack of standards found in old structures.”
Dom responds: Older architecture is widely known to last for many centuries -- partly because it is time-tested in most cases for both durability and how much the design is loved by the community, and therefore the design is used repeatedly.
Newer architecture, by contrast, is noteworthy for using innovative (i.e., not time-tested), low-value or low-durability (or exotic, non-local) materials that are notorious for failing in a few months or years, or needing regular repairs. And with contemporary designs, building features tend to be exceptionally difficult to repair.
Therefore, when we visit ancient European town centers, we typically see buildings that were built several hundred or thousands of years ago.
What has been built since about the 1940s will be mostly gone in a short period of time. In part, that is because the post-1940s stuff is too unloved or too uncared for by most all of us, which means there is little desire to preserve or restore it. "Nothing is more dated than yesterday's vision of tomorrow."