02-03-2012, 04:20 AM
Durian, although this is an interesting analogy...one of the main drivers for building codes are catastrophic failures... recently we have seen the call in other counties for more stringent building regulations after earthquakes & people loading failures caused hundreds of deaths. Chicago has had one of the toughest building codes for over a century...established after the extreme devastation of the Chicago fire (no matter what theory you believe for the start of the fire, the spread of the fire was not cow caused, but because of the way the buildings were built with no firestops within or between the buildings)
This is also a question that is being mulled an a global scale, should the poor be relegated to housing that would not be safe for the more well to do...with the increased hazards of structural & electrical failures and unsafe sanitation... if not, how to make sure that all have access to safe housing...
I am also not sure that the house of cards should be considered the best structure that the owners could build... there is an obvious use of materials (cost) & effort to build up, rather than build well. Any time you build a structure up, you increase the cost of the structure & increase the complexity....
This is also a question that is being mulled an a global scale, should the poor be relegated to housing that would not be safe for the more well to do...with the increased hazards of structural & electrical failures and unsafe sanitation... if not, how to make sure that all have access to safe housing...
I am also not sure that the house of cards should be considered the best structure that the owners could build... there is an obvious use of materials (cost) & effort to build up, rather than build well. Any time you build a structure up, you increase the cost of the structure & increase the complexity....