Brian Potter - Future of Construction, Ugly Modernism, & Environmental Review

It was a pleasure to welcome Brian Potter on the podcast! Brian is the author of the excellent Construction Physics blog, where he discusses why the construction industry has been slow to industrialize and innovate. He explains why: -Construction isn’t getting cheaper and faster, -“Ugly” modern buildings are simply the result of better architecture, -China is so great at building things, -Saudi Arabia’s Line is a waste of resources, -Environmental review makes new construction expensive and delayed and much much more! Episode website + Transcript: https://www.dwarkeshpatel.com/p/brian-potter Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3THMrFf Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3SCz5IN Read Brian's Construction Physics Blog: https://constructionphysics.substack.com/ Follow me: https://twitter.com/dwarkesh_sp TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Why Saudi Arabia’s Line is Insane, Unrealistic, and Never going to Exist  06:54 Designer Clothes & eBay Arbitrage Adventures  10:10 Unique Woes of The Construction Industry   19:28 The Problems of Prefabrication  26:27 If Building Regulations didn’t exist…  32:20 China’s Real Estate Bubble, Unbound Technocrats, & Japan 44:45 Automation and Revolutionary Future Technologies  1:00:51 3D Printer Pessimism & The Rising Cost of Labour 1:08:02 AI’s Impact on Construction Productivity 1:17:53 Brian Dreams of Building a Mile High Skyscraper 1:23:43 Deep Dive into Environmentalism and NEPA 1:42:04 Software is Stealing Talent from Physical Engineering 1:47:13 Gaps in the Blog Marketplace of Ideas 1:50:56 Why is Modern Architecture So Ugly? 2:19:58 Advice for Aspiring Architects and Young Construction Physicists