The pyramids of Giza have been standing intact for over 4000-years and are not even the oldest pyramids in Egypt.The Pantheon in Rome has been in continuous use for over 2000-years, Istanbul’s intricate Santa Sophia appears pristine despite is 1483-year age, while the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine, has housed worshipers for the last 1455-years. We have known how to construct and maintain buildings to last for thousands of years, yet the average life of a modern building is just 60-years and many are now calling that unsustainable. This trend is not just revealed in comparisons with ancient structures that receive the status and funding for protection and restoration. According to a recent colloquium by the Getty Center, the average life span of relatively modern conventional buildings, built from masonry and wood, is about 120 years, double that of modernist buildings made of reinforced concrete and glass. It didn’t take long to realize […]