In the corners of X where Roman marble profile pictures reign supreme, it’s common to lament the modern world’s lackluster architecture and long for a return to the past. These takes also appealed to silicon-valley techno-optimist types (including me). Not because they wished to return to the past, but because they are a salient example of stagnation in a world where
"There is no chance that the Sphere could last through a “Fall of Rome” and it probably couldn’t hack it through another pandemic. I’d love to see a show at the Sphere but it doesn’t stand on its own, so it doesn’t rank among greatest monuments of yore."
I suspect similar could be said of the colosseum though, right? It required manpower, knowledge, upkeep, and infrastructure facilities to function just like the Sphere does. Absent this, its a empty shell, just as the sphere would be.
Yes all monuments require some balance of "stock" vs "flow." Without drawing an exact line on that spectrum I'm just saying that the sphere is far over to the "flow" side where without constant connection to the grid most of what makes it cool is gone. The Colliseum needed maintenance but it could go several decades without it.
"There is no chance that the Sphere could last through a “Fall of Rome” and it probably couldn’t hack it through another pandemic. I’d love to see a show at the Sphere but it doesn’t stand on its own, so it doesn’t rank among greatest monuments of yore."
I suspect similar could be said of the colosseum though, right? It required manpower, knowledge, upkeep, and infrastructure facilities to function just like the Sphere does. Absent this, its a empty shell, just as the sphere would be.
Yes all monuments require some balance of "stock" vs "flow." Without drawing an exact line on that spectrum I'm just saying that the sphere is far over to the "flow" side where without constant connection to the grid most of what makes it cool is gone. The Colliseum needed maintenance but it could go several decades without it.
Reminds me of
https://www.construction-physics.com/p/how-to-design-a-house-to-last-for?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
...it’s hard enough to build a durable house. Maybe it’s easier to build a durable monument? But it’s hard to build a durable and *wondrous* one.