system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Could a building be so large that the engineers have to take into account the curvature of the earth?

Stadiums, airports, and convention centers are huge. They seem to have a single, large, concrete foundation. Does the curvature of the earth come into play? Could a building, even in theory, be affected by the earth's shape? Are there any currently in existence, planned, or theorized?
gpt
Well the earth is 8k miles diameter. Your horizon is 3-5 miles at normal height. So if it takes 5 miles to drop 6 feet then you are dropping 1 inch every 400 feet or so. So across a football stadium the curvature of the earth is about 2 inches tops. Whereas local variations in height of sea level would generally be a bigger factor. Even if a building were constructed that was a mile wide it would only have to clear about 15 inches more earth on on side relative to the other. Which again would still be almost zero relative to just normal changes in sea level over the same span.