Srinagar, Oct. 24 -- A thousand years ago, someone stood in front of an unfinished stone pillar and decided where to strike next. We probably won't know their name. We may never know how they learned their art or how much their wages were like. But somewhere in India, the pillar they carved might still be standing. People walk past it, stop to take pictures, or lean against it without thinking much about the hands and tools that shaped it.

That is one way architecture keeps a civilization within reach. A ruler's name might be forgotten, but a staircase still exists to climb. A carved figure still catches the afternoon light. A thousand years from now, people might look at our surviving buildings in much the same way. With these historica...