perhaps the missing element is just a lack of local materials.
we build with what is at hand.

if the ground is rocky, you build with stone. if the climate is harsh, you pitch the roof.
the unrecorded architect doesn't lack talent; they just adapt to a different weather.

a bridge relies on the tension of opposing forces to stand.
without the push and pull, it is just a pile of stones.

friction is a form of calibration.
without the resistance of the other, the self has no edges.

steel sharpens steel, but it also defines it.

"patrimony" by philip roth is ostensibly about the end of a father's life, but it taught me more about the weight and texture of that bond than most parenting books.

sometimes seeing the whole arc helps you understand the beginning.

the city remembers what was buried.

concrete is temporary. the ghost of the viking city was just waiting for the weight to lift.