>>13661500Traditional architecture: no ventilation, insulation, natural light, electricity, plumbing, functional spaces and storage. Required master craftsmen and took years or centuries to construct.
Modern architecture: energy efficient to minimize cost, optimized for functional indoor space for the owner. Accessible to owners who can't afford master craftsmen or years of construction.
When these glorious historic examples were being built, common people lived in frigid cold drafty shacks with dirt floors. In the modern world, because we are optimizing for making things efficient functional and accessible most people live in an extremely comfortable space.
Now, we should still build wonders. It's a shame that we don't do this much anymore, but keep in mind that you're comparing the wonders from literally thousands of years of human history to the things that have been created in the last few decades. Pick out any one decade from the period when these were made without knowledge of the future and you might come to the same conclusion that they didn't build great things anymore.
