Why does everything look so similar these days? You could argue that we’ve converged on a perfect solution for every one of our engineering problems. But, as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t think there really is a single, right answer for everyone in every situation. Your ideal solution depends on your values and background.
The sameness in construction might be more likely an example of developers being economically rational, than a lack of homage to local history & customs. In other words, probably glass and steel create practical structures, are easily obtainable in the global supply chain and are thus low-cost, and have enough strength etc. to suit the needs. Wheres for example a bamboo based building might not be able to be as tall, and thus use the land as efficiently.
When it comes to the A/C, 2 guesses:
1. Lack of disincentive against constructing structures that depend on HVAC to stay thermally optimal for workers (although counter-examples also exist - such as 7-star buildings)
2. HVAC creates more controlled conditions optimal for productivity, which leads to happy tenants. By way of counter-example: I've a friend who works in a 7-star building, and they've said that glare can be annoying from the lack of a covered roof as the building uses the sun to heat itself. Also, the breeze is occasionally annoying as the building automatically adjusts its ventilation to stay cool. So there are other quite sensible reasons to rely on HVAC.
All this is to say part of the reason construction has converged the world over is the similarity among human needs the world over.
Thanks for the great, thoughtful post - really got the brain juices flowing!
The sameness in construction might be more likely an example of developers being economically rational, than a lack of homage to local history & customs. In other words, probably glass and steel create practical structures, are easily obtainable in the global supply chain and are thus low-cost, and have enough strength etc. to suit the needs. Wheres for example a bamboo based building might not be able to be as tall, and thus use the land as efficiently.
When it comes to the A/C, 2 guesses:
1. Lack of disincentive against constructing structures that depend on HVAC to stay thermally optimal for workers (although counter-examples also exist - such as 7-star buildings)
2. HVAC creates more controlled conditions optimal for productivity, which leads to happy tenants. By way of counter-example: I've a friend who works in a 7-star building, and they've said that glare can be annoying from the lack of a covered roof as the building uses the sun to heat itself. Also, the breeze is occasionally annoying as the building automatically adjusts its ventilation to stay cool. So there are other quite sensible reasons to rely on HVAC.
All this is to say part of the reason construction has converged the world over is the similarity among human needs the world over.
Thanks for the great, thoughtful post - really got the brain juices flowing!