> author has thought a lot about materials and buildings > but not actually built anything. That was my impression. As soon as they started talking about une

> author has thought a lot about materials and buildings > but not actually built anything. That was my impression. As soon as they started talking about unenforced concrete pilings (drilled? monopile?) to bedrock and stressed steel framing I wasn't certain I would enjoy anymore or that it was a good use of my time. I think costs at this stage are unrealistically low "probably in the neighborhood of $1000-2000 per square foot ... (8 to 16 times as much as conventional construction)". ~$250-400 sq ft is the cost of modern labour expediated and material optimized building. They're describing stainless steel framing with what would be (what?) 316 SS in S-beam with a custom end plate? A blob of rolled 1" x 6' 316 SS is $200. There are the examples we could draw from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_known_surviving_buildings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_known_surviving... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Anse_aux_Meadows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Anse_aux_Meadows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestral_Puebloans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestral_Puebloans Material wise we'd look at clay, solid high-density rocks, non-ferrous metals (lead, aluminum, copper, tin), dense naturally mold resistant woods (cedar, redwood), high density with high oil content woods (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignum_vitae https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lignum_vitae), and easily replaceable sacrificial surfaces, dirt with live plant, cobble rock. Building techniques aren't going to improve with technology, we already have examples that have lasted -- we're looking at building a heap temple with ancient style water and sewers. This is either a rock temple or a log-house with highly resistant woods. Either we aim for a light-weight footprint or we find solid rock for building on. Solid rock is the most appropriate. Our fasteners are all based on managing gravity. Rock with concave and convex connections under gravity. Wood pegs in non-load bearing configurations. Lead sheets with crimped folded seams. Solid copper sheet trays with crimped folded seams in rock trays. The first thought should be "what happens if I drive a truck into the side of this building 10 times?" And the answer should be "not much, you move a few things around, but there is limited stressed coupling, and things rest on top of each other." If you do substantially damage the building, all you should be doing is reassembling the pile. I called the author out for not having built anything, and in honesty, I haven't built using these ancient approaches, so, perhaps this is a self-destructing prophecy.