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[[quoteright:350:[[WebVideo/DreamSMP https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_6799.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Building makes me feel like I've fixed things from my past."]]
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->''Rebuilding Earth ought to be a lot more fun than ruining it was.''
-->-- ''VideoGame/DoomII'' ending

Destruction is cool. Construction requires time, effort, planning, lots of minute stages, coordination... and there are seldom enemies and villains to defeat. The only antagonist is ourselves, our own flaws and laziness and that's not something people like to confront. [[ViolenceIstheOnlyOption A straight-up battle that ends with the destruction of evil is more entertaining and dramatic]], and less self-accusatory. However, some works manage to portray creation and construction and raising as activities deserving of awe and respect, and the hard work they involve is represented as dignifying rather than demeaning.

There are various ways this can be shown, usually through;
* Architecture.
* GaiasVengeance and other Green phenomena.
* Geological formations.
* Industry, Labor, and Craftsmanship. More awesome if robots are involved. It's what they've been invented ''for''.
* Weapon Construction: A special sort of example: the construction of tools of destruction takes some of its awe from [[{{Irony}} the use the creation is intended for]].
* CreatingLife and Building Systems.
* ... Or something that defies classification altogether.

Occasional parodied with people building much faster than physical possible or lacking organisation having hilarity ensues.

Related to CreationSequence, HardWorkMontage, ATeamMontage, and maybe a ForgingScene or TheGreatRepair. Also, apparently, BuildingIsWelding, because it's showy, flashy, and '''[[Film/{{Flashdance}} manly.]]'''

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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', alchemy makes construction (and repairs) very easy, but cool-looking nonetheless.
** This becomes a DiscussedTrope when Winry helps deliver a baby, and Ed praises the creation of a new human life (and her help in achieving that as a midwife) as being more incredible than alchemy.
* In ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'', the Forest God and the kids magically grow a few seeds into a MASSIVE WorldTree. In the morning, the tree is gone, but the seeds have germinated abnormally fast.
* In ''Anime/OriginSpiritsOfThePast'', the genetic engineering of super-powered plants on the moon is [[{{Montage}} juxtaposed]] to their subsequent explosive growth to the point that THE MOON IS SPLIT IN HALF, ''burning reentry into Earth's atmosphere'', and '''''growing to cover all of the planet'''''. It combines the Creation and Growth aspects of this trope with DestructionIsCool.
* [[{{Cyborg}} Franky]] from ''Manga/OnePiece'' clearly puts a lot of heart into everything he builds, as do the workers from Water 7. His mentor Tom builds "With a don!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Parodied in ''[[ComicBook/{{Asterix}} Asterix and Cleopatra]]'' where the latter tasks an architect with the building of a palace for Caesar in just three months. An impossible task, so he calls the druid Getafix whose magic potion suddenly makes the construction work much faster, with the now super-strong workers tossing the giant stone blocks between each other.
* The various stages of the creation of ''ComicBook/IronMan's'' [[PowerArmor armour]].
* Also parodied a pair of times with [[BoomTown Boom Towns]] in ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' with people running around with half houses, a saloon owner building the saloon around the already waiting costumers, an entire town built without streets and so on.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film-- Animated]]
* The mice and birds making Cinderella's dress in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}}'', a circus is "built". During a storm. By faceless burly black dudes. And elephants. It is '''awe'''some.
* The climax of ''WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest'', in which [[spoiler:Crysta and the other fairies cause a tree to grow around Hexus, imprisoning him again.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', Elsa uses her cryokinesis to build a fabulous palace out of ice, singing all the while.
* This is done with a DeconReconSwitch in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie''. There are 2 major sides in the show, [[OrderVsChaos Lord Business vs Cloud Cuckooland]]. The latter is a bunch of creative builders who build awesome and nonstandard things, but their creations tend to either not last long or not working as intended. The former is a paragon of "following instructions" who doesn't tolerate any kind of deviations, but his empire's boring buildings and vehicles are practical. Emmet's journey to become a Master Builder is the reconstruction - in the end, by combining the knowledge of instructions that he has as a part of Lord Business' system with his newfound Master Builder sense, he can make awesome constructions that are also functional.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'', this is subverted: the Pharaonic monuments are impressive, but [[ArtisticLicenseHistory they are built with]] ''slave labor''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ATrollInCentralPark'', the entirety of BigApplesauce is invaded by flower plants.
* In Max Fleischer's ''WesternAnimation/GulliversTravels'', the Liliputians binding Gullliver and transporting him to town.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'' has some cool welding sequences. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILWSp0m9G2U WHAT A FEELING!]]. The inaccuracy of the way welding was depicted was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mIy6es9HhY mocked]] in ''Film/TheFullMonty.''
* The construction of the various [[PoweredArmor Iron Man suits]] in [[Film/IronMan the eponymous films]] combines this trope with TechnologyPorn.
* Kind of AnAesop in ''Film/OfficeSpace'', where the hero quits his stressful, unsatisfying desk job and finds working at a construction site much more fulfilling in the end.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** The [[https://youtu.be/TkZFWr0vR8Q?si=RSSSo9eQV8oe5eDu teaser trailer]] for ''Film/StarTrek2009'' is made of this trope. Dramatic slow-motion closeups of welding, shots of workers dwarfed by the massive construction they're creating until TheReveal that they're working on none other than the ''[[CoolStarship Enterprise]]''...
** ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'' ends with a [[https://youtu.be/AH6XBXPUai4?si=Goa3tw1vgCh9PrJX gorgeous montage]] of the ''Enterprise''-A being built.
* ''Franchise/StarWars''. The construction of the [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Death]] [[Film/RogueOne Star.]] The construction of the [[Film/AttackOfTheClones Clone Army.]] The construction of [[WeCanRebuildHim Lord Vader.]]
* There was that... huge... geological thing Lex Luthor used in ''Film/SupermanReturns''.
* Some of the stuff the protagonist uses in ''Film/{{Tron}}'' once he regains his Admin powers.
* A major theme in ''Film/TronLegacy''.
* The barn raising in ''Film/{{Witness}}''. Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode where they get a pool.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* The Literature/BookOfNehemiah in ''Literature/TheBible'' is mostly known as "that book about the Jews rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem". (Which is actually just the first half.)
* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', the reforging of the sword Narsil into Andúril, the forging of the Nine, the Seven, the Three and the One, the creation and armament of Saruman's army.
* The climax of ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'', when the Hero of Ages brings the entire Scadrial back to its former glory, undoing all the damage done before.
* The entire plot ''Literature/ThePillarsOfTheEarth'' centers around the expansion/reconstruction of Philip's church into a massive cathedral.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton and Walter Denton build a new garage for Mr. Conklin in "Do-It-Yourself".
* This trope is the core of ''Series/ScrapheapChallenge'', where teams need to use whatever scrap they can salvage to create vehicles and devices for challenges .
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Music]]
* From Music/DaftPunk's "Harder Better Faster Stronger": [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAjR4_CbPpQ WORK IT, MAKE IT, DO IT, MAKES US, HARDER BETTER FASTER STRONGER, MORE THAN EVER HOUR AFTER, OUR WORK IS NEVER OVER]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In the lore of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 4e, this is Erathis' paradigm.
* The Alchemical ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has ''becoming a'' metropolis/patropolis as their final stage of evolution. In their case, they are so Awesome, they become Construction.
* The driving force of the Adeptus Mechanicus in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. Building things, be they weapons, vehicles, buildings, or anything in-between is less a job and more of a holy duty to them.
** ''[[Literature/HorusHeresy Angel Exterminatus]]'' has an epic scene of [[TheEngineer Perturabo and his legion]] constructing an immense amphitheatre at [[ThePrimaDonna Fulgrim's]] suggestion. [[https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/comments/hy661t/angel_exterminatus_iron_warriors_build_huge/ The whole process, from blasting a massive hole into the ground to lay the foundations to the creation of the building itself and the end result, is described in exquisite detail]] - and if that wasn't enough, they manage to do it in ''two days''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Cataclysm}}: Dark Days Ahead'' offers many construction options, from renovating abandoned houses and fixing up broken cars to building a zombie-proof fortress or creating a Deathmobile to [[CarFu run down hordes of zombies with]].
* Being inspired by ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', this applies to both ''VideoGame/DragonQuestBuilders'' and ''VideoGame/DragonQuestBuilders2''. The latter even makes the duality of creation and destruction a major thematic element of the story.
* One of the live-action (or made to look such in this case) trailers for ''VideoGame/Halo3'' centered on the inside of a Misriah Armory foundry on Mars assembling distinctive UNSC weapons.
* The primary appeal of ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'' is that it lets you design, build, and fly your own spacecraft, {{space station}}s, and surface bases, including the possibility of assembling them part by part in orbit or on another planet's surface.
* Elaborate block-based construction projects are quite possibly the biggest reason to play ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}''.
* The point of virtually all city-building games. ''VideoGame/{{Pharaoh}}'' has you building pyramids (sometimes more than one in a single city), while providing (by ancient standards) ridiculously high living standard for your citizens.
* ''VideoGame/ScrapMechanic'', a construction sandbox with DesignItYourselfEquipment at its core, exemplifies this trope. It's really easy for the players to create magnificent, awesome machines [[UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay that use actual physical and engineering priciples]] and [[NotTheIntendedUse utilize the game's available parts in novel ways]] to do pretty much anything one can imagine.
* Some Tycoon games, i.e. ''VideoGame/RailroadTycoon''.
* In ''VideoGame/UltimateAdmiralDreadnoughts'' you not only control fleets of steam-era ships in gloriously detailed 3d battle, but you get to [[DesignItYourselfEquipment design them yourself]] and see how your design choices hold up in combat.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Video]]
* ''WebVideo/SMPLive'':
** Luemas is one of the best builders on the server, and she shows it with her huge, overarching base. She runs a construction firm at spawn with Travis, and other players often commission the two.
** The Spawn Tree is a huge, intricate build of a tree that marks the server's spawn.
** Altrive and Krinios are also well known for their large and elaborate builds on the server.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* The scene in the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' episode "Tales of Ba Sing Se", when [[TheChosenOne Aang]] builds a new zoo compound using [[DishingOutDirt earthbending]].
* One of the core themes of ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinotrux}}''. A group of dinosaur construction vehicle hybrids working together to accomplish feats of construction that generally end up saving the day. The climax of almost every episode features a building montage set to the show's main theme.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]]'' short "WesternAnimation/RhapsodyInRivets", in which a skyscraper is built to music, with the foreman acting as a CartoonConductor.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' building their inventions, all the time.
* Construction of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' pool
** "It is a fine barn but sure 'tis no pool, English""D'oheth"
* The Constructicons from ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' are a living example of this. The entire team is made up of Decepticons that transform into construction vehicles and they serve as the faction's resident designers, engineers and builders. Some of their creations include the Forge (a gladiatorial arena) and one of the main cities of Cybertron, Crystal City.
[[/folder]]

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