Because it's not profitable. Modern versions of cathedrals would have corporate sponsors.
this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2026
584 points (99.5% liked)
196
7084 readers
1993 users here now
Community Rules
You must post before you leave
Be nice. Assume others have good intent (within reason).
Block or ignore posts, comments, and users that irritate you in some way rather than engaging. Report if they are actually breaking community rules.
Use content warnings and/or mark as NSFW when appropriate. Most posts with content warnings likely need to be marked NSFW.
Most 196 posts are memes, shitposts, cute images, or even just recent things that happened, etc. There is no real theme, but try to avoid posts that are very inflammatory, offensive, very low quality, or very "off topic".
Bigotry is not allowed, this includes (but is not limited to): Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, Sexism, Abelism, Classism, or discrimination based on things like Ethnicity, Nationality, Language, or Religion.
Avoid shilling for corporations, posting advertisements, or promoting exploitation of workers.
Proselytization, support, or defense of authoritarianism is not welcome. This includes but is not limited to: imperialism, nationalism, genocide denial, ethnic or racial supremacy, fascism, Nazism, Marxism-Leninism, Maoism, etc.
Avoid AI generated content.
Avoid misinformation.
Avoid incomprehensible posts.
No threats or personal attacks.
No spam.
Moderator Guidelines
Moderator Guidelines
- Don’t be mean to users. Be gentle or neutral.
- Most moderator actions which have a modlog message should include your username.
- When in doubt about whether or not a user is problematic, send them a DM.
- Don’t waste time debating/arguing with problematic users.
- Assume the best, but don’t tolerate sealioning/just asking questions/concern trolling.
- Ask another mod to take over cases you struggle with, if you get tired, or when things get personal.
- Ask the other mods for advice when things get complicated.
- Share everything you do in the mod matrix, both so several mods aren't unknowingly handling the same issues, but also so you can receive feedback on what you intend to do.
- Don't rush mod actions. If a case doesn't need to be handled right away, consider taking a short break before getting to it. This is to say, cool down and make room for feedback.
- Don’t perform too much moderation in the comments, except if you want a verdict to be public or to ask people to dial a convo down/stop. Single comment warnings are okay.
- Send users concise DMs about verdicts about them, such as bans etc, except in cases where it is clear we don’t want them at all, such as obvious transphobes. No need to notify someone they haven’t been banned of course.
- Explain to a user why their behavior is problematic and how it is distressing others rather than engage with whatever they are saying. Ask them to avoid this in the future and send them packing if they do not comply.
- First warn users, then temp ban them, then finally perma ban them when they break the rules or act inappropriately. Skip steps if necessary.
- Use neutral statements like “this statement can be considered transphobic” rather than “you are being transphobic”.
- No large decisions or actions without community input (polls or meta posts f.ex.).
- Large internal decisions (such as ousting a mod) might require a vote, needing more than 50% of the votes to pass. Also consider asking the community for feedback.
- Remember you are a voluntary moderator. You don’t get paid. Take a break when you need one. Perhaps ask another moderator to step in if necessary.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia
The central Tower of Jesus Christ reached structural completion on 20 February 2026, when the final piece was installed,[14][15]
Construction on Sagrada Família is not supported by any government or official church sources. Private patrons funded the initial stages.[89] Money from tickets purchased by tourists is now used to pay for the work, and private donations are accepted.[90]
The building work started 144 years ago and is ongoing, so "still building" has a slightly different meaning in this case.
The church, you see, is building. It's also a building
You beat me to it, I’d love to see it if I finally ever make it to Spain
Like that ball in Vegas. Only interesting if you can show ginormous ads on the outside.
A local sports stadium is named after a drug manufacturer, because I guess, they paid a big sum of money for that... 🙄
In Canada I think we have at least four different Rogers Place's. Rogers being one of the three telecom companies that form a monopoly on cellular data and internet. And unimaginative, soulless names for stadiums.
And everyone would riot if the government decided to spend a couple billy building something to look cool.
Which is why there were protests against Stuttgart 21. And why authoritarian petro states still do it.
Interesting point. I live in America, unfortunately, and we have giant multi billion dollar stadiums in most major cities that are almost entirely funded by taxpayers. The corporations who's name goes on the front don't pay for most of the costs, it's taxpayers. And most of those taxpayers will never see the inside.
Although to be fair if Americans ever were to riot I would hope it would be about the rise of fascism and the comically large wealth inequality gap rather than taxpayers funding buildings.
And local governments don't even get to own the teams
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Rong_Khun
Opened in 1997. The murals inside are full of contemporary references like Goku and Master Chief
And the... Twin towers being eaten by a gas pump demon? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wat_Rong_Khun_wall_painting.jpg
While simultaneously being flown into by a plane... and also Red from Angry Birds. Ben 10 is also just running off a rooftop for some reason.
Not much, wat rong wit you?
This but unironically. What was once a marvel is now mundane.
Modern skyscrapers are built with base isolation and mass dampening to make them resistant to earthquakes. Have you seen recent cargo ships? Warehouses? They are great and awful in every sense of both words.
Brazilian Giant Rubber Duck
it's fkn ded
Zombie Rubber Duck*
Reminder that big government science projects, like space programs and supercolliders, count as wonders.
The LHC is 27km in circumference. Still not as big as the Great Wall of China.
ETA: The Burj Khalifa is certainly a wonder of engineering, if it's not regarded as a wonder, itself. But it's the first occupiable tower to exceed Barad-dûr. (Tolkien fans have since adjusted the Sauron's tower to be even taller.)
Ah, the chairmans house
Because humans stopped reading in a coherent direction.
to bottom?
from top
doesn't read
Who else
I t m
\ o y
d \ s
o b e
\ o l
t t f
o t .
p e
\ m
I mean, the first one definitely makes me go "Hmm, I wonder why anyone would build that?"
I think they like fish.
My favourite is this:
I didn't know Yogi Bear owned property!
It was the HQ of a basket producing company
I figured something like that, I just like the idea of Yogi Bear making buildings shaped like a pic-a-nic basket, thus the dumb joke.
This is in the city I grew up in, the reason is because it's the headquarters of the national fisheries development board.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Fisheries_Development_Board_building
It's highly likely that anyone visiting Hyderabad will see this building on their way to/from the airport - so keep your eyes peeled!
Okay that's actually cool as fuck and also totally appropriate.
There is so much wonder around and people are simply not noticing because it is so normal. We have a 57km long tunnel where you can drive through in a high-speed train with up to 250km/h while sitting in a comfortable chair. While you're @200km/h and 2,5km below the alps, you can still use your pocket computer to communicate by video with nearly everyone on this planet in real time. Some of that communication will go through space. You also may use that pocket device to show pictures to thousands of strangers which are claiming that humans have stopped building wonders
We have stopped building wonders because the modern contractor industry is built deliberately to waste as much money as possible by letting it all go towards middle managers and people at the top.
The government is complicit in financing and upholding this system and has stopped employing people directly to actually do productive building work.
This is hamstringing us, because it means that we are literally uncapble of building great things. All things we try to build will be infinitely delayed and sever times the original budget. Because then, middle managers will be able to suck more money out of the broken system.
Bridges in the US now cost more than entire rail networks back in the day or what the sagrada familia cost over 100 years.
I get the sensationalism but your position is generally wrong. Projects are more expensive because of multiple legitimate reasons (property / land costs, stakeholder costs, building costs, wages, financing costs). I acknowledge that corruption is a thing. But that's less of a driver than legitimate costs.
we didn't, Australia has architectural marvels like the Big Prawn, the Big Banana etc
I present to you, China:
For a sec I thought the bottom image was DS3 Anor Londo and was wondering what game the upper image was from
When you have slave labor and authoritarian control, building aesthetic wonders is easy.
I think because finding a quarry with that much quality stone is impossible these days unless you dig very, very deep and ship it likely halfway across the world. Possible of course but prohibitively expensive, not to mention how much fossil fuel will be burned to achieve it.