If we may, let’s talk about exterior building materials in an urban setting.
It seems as of late I have seen a considerable number of urban buildings, especially in small cities, using metal sheeting for siding. These buildings are usually accompanied by a non-descript metal clad window.
These are certainly, buildings that will not survive the test of time, from a material perspective and certainly a visual perspective, or a contributor to the quality-of-life humans being aspire to.
As you tell by now, I am a traditionalist when it comes to building materials in the urban setting.
Materials almost define urbanism. Depending on the geography, materials consisted of what was available locally or could be acquired at a reasonable price and put in place with reasonably good and inexpensive labor.
Examples would be the huts of Africa, made from mud or clay, New England homes first made from Wood, then inner cities using brick with wood windows.
If I had my choice and wrote zoning regulations again, I would limit material to be used in the inner cities to the classics of Brick, Glass, Aluminum, Natural Stones, Granite, Marble, Stucco, Concrete properly finished.