For anyone interested in this sort of thing "Why Buildings Fall Down" [1] is a good related book. I did civil engineering at university and you'd be surprised how many beautiful and interesting buildings only ended up that way because of constraints forced on the engineers and architects by the surrounding environment.
> ... you'd be surprised how many beautiful and interesting buildings only ended up that way because of constraints forced on the engineers and architects by the surrounding environment.
I recently did a major remodel of my home and many of the decisions made were ultimately directed by things outside my control (e.g. physics, availability of materials, environmental conditions, etc.), which resulted in me getting not exactly what I originally wanted, but yielding a result better than my original imagining.
[1] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-Buildings-Fall-Down-Structures/...