There are plenty of examples in the US of old construction that holds up just fine. In Cleveland, many of those old buildings (1940 and earlier) are wonderful, sturdy and have excellent craftsmanship and construction materials. So many of them have been torn down for ill-conceived construction projects.
I know Cleveland pretty well.
Three of my old steamship customers were located there...
People once took pride in what they built and were directly connected with what the did. Now corporate millionaires in high rise towers plan projects far away, get their big contracts, often from the government, and only care that they not get caught doing something flagrantly dishonest. Remember the term “planned obsolescence”. The goal is to make everything good enough to sell, but weak enough to wear out quickly and continue the make, sell, make money, get rich, hire low paid workers (often overseas), and repeat the cycle as these things wear out much quicker than in the old days. Your see it on a small scale in the fashion industry where every year there has to be a new style so the industry can survive. If you did not tear down perfectly good old buildings, how would construction companies stay in business.
I first became aware of the failure of modern items as my clothing began to come apart at the seams. Modern thread was not holding up as well as older thread. At first I thought this might be part of planned obsolescence, but then got a surprising clue. I read that thatchers in England (the guys who put straw on roofs, not the PM), were complaining that straw raised with chemical fertilizers only lasted about 5 years. Older organically raised straw lasts about 10 years. So I concluded that cotton thread, which is now grown with a lot of chemicals, probably has the same problem. Now, if I sew or mend, I only use synthetic thread; clothes last longer. So it appears that both deliberate and accidental forces are both at work.