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Historically the longest lasting building materials seem to be stone. But I was wondering what material modern technology can create that would last longer under various conditions.

The various things the material would need to be tolerant to would include extreme heat, cold, water, wind, plants, animals, sunlight, earthquakes, as well as a determined effort by people to deface, damage or destroy.

I had considered steel blocks with a coating of an alloy or metal that would not react to air or water, or maybe an advanced form of composite glass or plastic such as bullet and bomb resistant glass that would be multiple feet thick and reinforced with metal as well.

I was planning to ask this question in an architecture stack, but all I could find was home improvement and I thought engineering may have more people versed about materials science than do it yourselfers.

So, if a modern team was going to build a pyramid and wanted it to last much longer than those of Egypt what materials would likely be used?

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  • $\begingroup$ Is your definition of "modern" post industrial revolution or post WWII ? $\endgroup$
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Sep 13, 2017 at 15:30
  • $\begingroup$ Also, most modern buildings have a design life very short compared to the pyramids or even churches / Cathedrals ... $\endgroup$
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Sep 13, 2017 at 15:32
  • $\begingroup$ by modern I mean the technology of today $\endgroup$
    – M. Aykens
    Commented Sep 13, 2017 at 15:39
  • $\begingroup$ I would say granite but not likely an answer that you want. $\endgroup$
    – blacksmith37
    Commented Sep 13, 2017 at 22:03
  • $\begingroup$ We won't know for another 5000 years or so. $\endgroup$
    – Phil Sweet
    Commented Mar 28, 2023 at 1:41

3 Answers 3

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I guess some kind of steel alloys, most probably featuring a high amount of titanium, will be the best, perhaps with some ceramic coating to weaken the effect of corrosion (even if it is already small for most titanium alloys). But ceramic coatings may be too brittle to survive people trying to deface the building.

The same counts for composite glass and other ceramics. Nearly all of them are extremely brittle and will thus deteriorate under the influence of impacting forces. Bomb resistant glass for example also shatters when an explosion hits it, but a plastic foil in between the glass layers keeps the outer structure intact. But this does not apply for constant effort to shatter it.

So imho only corrosive resistant metal alloys will be lasting for a long time.

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  • $\begingroup$ what about carbon fibers woven into huge blocks? $\endgroup$
    – M. Aykens
    Commented Sep 13, 2017 at 15:48
  • $\begingroup$ Well, carbon fibers are not fully fire resistant and also not cut resistant. $\endgroup$
    – JE_Muc
    Commented Sep 13, 2017 at 15:53
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    $\begingroup$ then I suppose metal blocks of some sort would last the longest. I was under the impression that the only metal that would not react to air or water or most other elements was gold. but solid gold blocks would not be possible, and being soft could be scratched maybe even by sand blown in the wind over time. $\endgroup$
    – M. Aykens
    Commented Sep 13, 2017 at 15:59
  • $\begingroup$ But then everything in contact with seawater, like parts of ships which can't have a corrosion resistant paint, would have to be built out of gold. ;) $\endgroup$
    – JE_Muc
    Commented Sep 13, 2017 at 16:20
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    $\begingroup$ for a life "much longer than" 5000 years I would say exactly opposite this answer. Over such long time chemical stability is essential so you specifically want something that will "never" oxidize. If you rule out actually using stone for some reason, you would likely turn to a ceramic. $\endgroup$
    – agentp
    Commented Sep 13, 2017 at 20:57
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Keep in mind there are versions of most materials that are at least an order of magnitude, if not two, better than the ones 99 percent of professionals have used. Ex concrete is a composite most people use at 3000-8000 psi,standard admixtures get you to the 50,000 range with exotics we'll over a 100k. Then put in graphite reinforcement with special aggregate and I'm sure someone is over 3-800k and completely stable. Stone, look at impregnated stone. Glass. Plastics, more stable than stone and glass if exposed to ph swings. Ceramics and concrete depend on composition. There are plenty of mixes of both that exceed stone for stability. Now the question is use, our examples presume a piece sitting exposed to weather. Lead pipes the Romans put in are still in use for sewer lines on a few buildings. Rare in the past but modern fabrication and soldering will easily exceed the 2000 years the Romans achieved. Lastly epoxy, I've worked on building a home that had a 600 year architectural standard and everything was epoxy, stone mounting,stone and tile grout, tile setting, wood/stone epoxy composite blocks for load bearing walls ect.. what good is 4inch stone cladding if it's not sealed in place with epoxy? "Traditional" stone methods would require a massive amount of resources to keep the weather out every 4-60 years. Regrouting and remounting loose 350lb siding slabs 10 times in 600 years? Each time costing considerably more than the upgrade made to the pallets of epoxy used during construction.

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  • $\begingroup$ Breaking up a wall of text into paragraphs & highlighting each option would improve this answer. $\endgroup$
    – Fred
    Commented Dec 23, 2022 at 7:49
  • $\begingroup$ Will do👍. Just a noob here. $\endgroup$
    – Sparks McGee
    Commented Dec 23, 2022 at 8:11
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Steel buildings are a more long-lasting and modern building material compared to wood or any other material because durable steel better resists general causes of deterioration such as termites, moisture, and mold. Building made with Steel is long-lasting because galvanized steel is used, and it is affordable as well as can withstand harsh weather conditions for years to come.

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  • $\begingroup$ No modern steel building has had to last thousands of years. I sincerely doubt they are engineered to do so. $\endgroup$
    – Eric S
    Commented Mar 27, 2023 at 18:08

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