How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built

by Stewart Brand

Longevity has no chance without serious Structure. “A building’s foundation and frame should be capable of living 300 years,” says Chris Alexander. “That’s beyond the economic lifetime of any of the players. But construction for long life is what invites the long-term tampering it takes for a building to reach an adapted state.” The lack of economic incentive suggests a role for government, using building codes, tax credits, and even direct sponsorship to get buildings that will serve the community for generations. Some of the solidest buildings in America were constructed during the 1930s by the New Deal programs of the Public Works Administration and the Works Projects Agency—libraries, schools, park buildings, bridges, dams, viaducts. That investment by government in “infrastructure” is seen by historians as having been the basis for the economic boom of the 1950s and 1960s. America is said to be overdue for a new round of infrastructure investment.