"DISPOSABLE ARCHITECTURE IS A CULTURAL CRISIS"

Arguably, it's a matter of interest rates. When it costs a lot to borrow, you borrow less, which means you build less, and less well. So, when interest rates were running at 13%, our building sector responded with a type of building that could be built rapidly, but which depreciated rapidly. Indeed, reinforced concrete has proven to be worse than anticipated--concrete was thought to be waterproof (protecting the iron rebar from rusting). Which has not proven to be the case, as the Florida condo collapse showed (saltwater induces rust faster than rainwater).

There is also the hangover of anything built from 1947-1973, (pre-OPEC) when oil was cheap. And since oil was cheap, electricity was cheap, and concrete was cheap, and so concrete seemed readily replaceable.