True Architecture

At 4:00 AM this morning my wife and I watched the BBC's broadcast of the Royal Wedding from Westminster Abbey in London. As a backdrop to such an event it was of course exquisite. I asked myself, how much of the effect was the ceremony and how much was the architecture of the space. Would it have had the same effect in prefabricated metal building with a fiberglass steeple? While it has been many years since my last visit to Westminster Abbey - I remember how humbling a it was. Upon entering I was immediately transported from the craziness of the London streets to a different place.... and time. So little of what we create today can remotely approach the impact of such a place. While we may not have 300 plus years and untold dollars at our disposal when we create architecture - I think of the advances in engineering, materials and machines available to us that medieval society did not. Yet as a society we realize our built environment in plastic covered foam (what "textured exterior insulation systems" or "dryvit" really is) and metal studs with an anticipated life span in the tens of years at most certainly not hundreds. With the next generation only experiencing quality three quality dimension space such as Westminster only through the virtual worlds of their X-Box's and PlayStation's what will our legacy be?