Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login
How to design a house to last 1000 years (2021) (construction-physics.com)
5 points by spking 4 months ago | hide | past | favorite | 2 comments



A waste of time. House requirements change all the time. So you want to set a design in stone, so to speak, instead of allowing the design to change over the years with changing requirements.

Look at the buildings (not just 'houses') that have lasted more than a few centuries. You will find that they are filled with kludges to offset the requirements of change over that time: like cables attached to the outside of stone walls instead of being embedded and hidden away as they normally are; or double-glazing retrofitted to small-pane windows; or foam sealant being applied to drafty gaps in walls; or false ceilings to reduce the ceiling height to reduce heating costs, etc, etc.

And many buildings are demolished not because they are no longer suitable, but because the location where they are is wanted for something else. So in that case, it wouldn't matter that the house is designed for 1000 years, it's just not wanted there anyway.


This is an interesting exercise, but for absolute longevity it's probably easier to attempt to design an organisation that will continuously rebuild over 1'000 years.

A while back we visited a site that has been in the hands of the same organisation for the last 1'500 years. The most recent buildings are only from the 1600s but the oldest structure found there had been dedicated to Mercury ca. 2'000 years ago.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: