How do you feel about Roman architecture?
Birmingham needs more of it.
The delights of Brumcaster aside, when we look at Roman buildings of concrete, we tend not to think how they've fared badly with 2000 years of weathering. Even early-industrial buildings of concrete, where they've survived, aren't thought of as weathered, and in many cases we have photographs or paintings of their original state for comparison. Okay, different sorts of concrete, but I think saying concrete bad, bricks good, is a bit like Prince Charles carbunclism.
And wooden buildings?
Those tend to be self-limiting in the absence of maintenance. Also, three little pigs.
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We don't really have many wooden buildings (as distinct from wooden frames) in Britain, so hard to say, I guess. Their limiting factors from what I've seen are fashion even more than maintenance.