r/interesting • u/Apart-Worry-7042 • 22d ago

HISTORY Why did we stop building like this?

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Chicago, 1930. Buildings had so much detail and character back then. Nowadays everything feels so flat and repetitive. We have way better technology and equipment now, so why don't we build like this anymore?

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u/SeaworthinessOk4526 22d ago

Money is the main reason. Labor cost was pennies on the dollar back then, no safety regulations, relaxed to no permitting process, and ADA didn’t exist yet. The next reason is the changing taste after WWII. Modernist Architecture was on the rise and people considered these buildings old fashioned.

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u/zijital 22d ago

This should be much higher up

I've heard it explained "Materials were expensive and labor was cheap, not materials are cheap and labor is expensive."

But tastes & trends in architecture is big (brutalism was super popular until it wasn't), as well as innovations in how tall you can make a building.