> [...] the Crystal Palace, a 990,000-square-foot building of cast iron and plate glass originally located in Hyde Park. And it was built in an incredible 190 days. [...]

> The design competition for what would become the Crystal Palace was launched in March 1850, with a deadline four weeks later, and the actual, fully constructed building opened on May 1, 1851. The winning design, by Joseph Patterson, wasn't chosen until quite late in the game after numerous designs had been rejected—most because they were simply too far above the 100,000-pound budget.

SO: A 1M sq. foot building, designed and constructed in less than 1 year, at a cost of 1/10 of a British Pound per square feet.

Has human society advanced in the 173 years since then, or regressed?

(Yes, I know about inflation, and antibiotics, and etc.)