This sentiment goes too far in the opposite direction for me. Code that solves a problem is an asset. To carry your analogy forward, code is the concretization of the solution of the problem. The idea of the skyscraper is useless on its own and requires the concrete that materializes it. The skyscraper would become a lot less valuable if you removed the concrete...
Of course, you also don't make the skyscraper better by indefinitely adding concrete. A balance must be found with the right amount to be load bearing but not too much. Just like code.
Agreed. And a point that keeps getting missed whenever this discussion comes up is there's a big difference between junior and senior programmers. What should a junior programmer do? Write as much code as possible! KLOC is a pretty good measure of progress for junior programmers, how else do you get better at programming? To know when not to write a line of code, you have to know how to write the line of code in the first place.
It's not a spectrum, instead a duality. An engine is an asset, yet it needs maintenance. Because software is soft, existing assets become yet more stuff to understand, more stuff to fix and keep in sync.
Compare for example a building made of stacked stone, brick, concrete, or modular carbon sheets on rebar
Another example, 100 hotel rooms, rearrange the layout and it's 101 things to do.
The analogies still fail, software updates are more akin to welding an airplane on to a car attached to a subway train. It's less, oh, we need to rework these weldzhere, it's often trying to make the software do something that is radically different. Like inserting a romance chapter into a mystery novel that starts as a chemistry how-to
Costs are not a pure negative. Just like a skyscraper without concrete would be silly, so is an IT solution without code. I have no problem paying for extra code, just like I have no problem paying for an extra server. IF they are worth it. Software engineering is also the act of making a reasonable tradeoff.
Lines of code are capital. They cost money to make, and they cost money to maintain. They can be productive capital, but if they aren't, they're a drain on your resources and a liability.
Of course, you also don't make the skyscraper better by indefinitely adding concrete. A balance must be found with the right amount to be load bearing but not too much. Just like code.