alt Hacker NewsI think the answer to this question is deeply uncomfortable in 2026.
Softly put, it's discipline, focus and a sense of greater purpose, far above the monetary value of things, fame and fortune.
In other words, exactly what our current, consumer-oriented society lacks. (for better or worse)
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watwut • today at 3:16 PM
Nothing screams "above the monetary value of things, fame and fortune" as extremely ornamental architecture.
I mean common, La Sagrada Família has nothing to do with "focus and sense of greater purpose". If you want to show off, you will want something like that. If you do not care about showing off, you end up with more boring architecture.
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It's not those things, it's money.
You can buy discipline, focus, and a sense of greater purpose. But it ain't cheap and few with the means to do it have the will to want it.
Consider my office. The original drafted designs for it had an airy look, full ceiling, windows connecting the rooms for added light, doors.
Every single one of those things got nixed because it meant $$$ and the people running my company didn't want to foot the bill. So instead what we ended up with is cheap carpet, no ceiling (I can see all the joists and the ductwork), and paper thin cardboard walls which you can hear discussions from across the building. But the conference room where the C Levels commonly meet is fantastically decorated.