Engineer + Architect : Historical monuments and modern buildings

What do you think about the old buildings?
What about the quality and workmanship?
Do you ever think about the influence of the buildings to the society at that time or even the impact of the society to the buildings back at that time?

Taj Mahal, for instance, I still remember that this monument was built to immortalise wife of an emperor in Moghul empire in 16th century. The construction of the monument lasted for more than 10 years. I have never been there but from what I read in my primary school text book during my younger days, the workmanship is fantastic! The construction materials are one of the finest in the world! Marble, granite, jewels, and valuable stones that decorated the monument, standing majestically in the city of Agra. Taj Mahal is one of the UNESCO World Heritage due to its story, impact to the society at that time and also modern society, as well as the one and only kind of building in the world. It was said that the emperor at that time killed all the designers and engineers who did Taj Mahal so that there would not be another buildings look like Taj Mahal in the world.

So, spending for more than 10 years of construction period, with fantastic workmanship, and last for centuries! Those are the characteristics of one of the typical ancient monument/buildings.

Let's look at the modern world. Our society has improved in terms of technology and skills. The architects can design buildings and engineers can construct and design how the structures behave. Sad to say that, all the buildings in modern society are driven by construction cost! Money is root of all problems. Even though we can speed up the construction time and we may improve the construction methods, once the project runs out of money, everything will be compromised! For instance, the workmanship will be compromised. Sometimes, when I walk into my construction site, I just cannot imagine that this will be a "six-star" building in the future! Just because of the poor workmanship of the builders! But, everything is covered up by the interior design of the hotel. So, regardless of poor workmanship of the structures, all that people want to see is the interior design of the building instead of the structure of the building, integrity of the building structures.

Take a look in the modern society construction which ignores the workmanship and structural design.

Figure above is the collapsed roof of the stadium in Malaysia. With the current technology and skillset(knowledge), the roof of the stadium is supposed to be built for safety and aesthetic. However, poor workmanship and money driven mindset have incepted in modern construction and lead to catastrophe.

Difference of old and new buildings are obvious. Ancient society valued quality while modern society looks more into the business revenue. The mindset has changed in this globalization era. Money is prioritized as business turnover rate is high. Same to construction when this industry is considered as a tool to make money. Thus, quality of the product, which is the building itself, is compromised.


Disclaimer : Article above is just opinion of the author himself