I think a distinction needs to be drawn between aesthetic conservatism, which is a matter of taste and therefore not proper grounds for dismissal or distain, and engineering conservatism, which is just plain good sense. A building thrown up in two weeks as disaster relief should be thrown out in a few years, because an engineer errs on the side of pessimism, and the durability of a structure is usually directly related to the care and time spent putting it together. That thing is gonna come down sooner or later; better to demolish it safely than to have it collapse on the residents and neighbours.