Hi,
Yea, I think a factor is, not to think of a building in terms that imply stasis. For example. "when it's done," or "there it stands". That is to say, when you are thinking of how it will last over time. Buildings are to be used and lived with, or in, which means they will always be worked on, changed, modified if not consciously than in and of themselves. Here in this climate it is said a typical old house will fluctuate in size, in mass between 2 cm in the cycle of the year responding to the conditions and forces in the environment. I see engineering, or at least over engineering as the antithesis of these good understandings and something stemming from a certain degree of equivocation and specialization and hyperactivity. In other words a sort of social/cultural problem, you see...

The hindus of India say that building a house is like removing Draupadi's sari - it's a never ending process.
And we know from Bruce Cockburn that, "...it's a sin to make things to last forever. Everything that exists in time runs out of time someday."