> Reminds me of Tom Wolfe's idiotic _From Bauhaus to Our House_, where he
> blamed boxy glass towers and those hideous layer-cake office-parks on
> aesthetics of Gropius and Mies Van Der Rohe. Now, I hate their styles,
> personally (I'm more a fan of Wright, the Greene brothers, Sullivan, and
> Gaudi), but they're not to blame. Those big boxy structures are,
> frankly, more "efficient."
Nonsense. As Wolfe points out, there is no more ridiculous contradiction of the rule "form follows function" than the Bauhaus's signature flat roof. In any place where it rains (and especially where it snows), a slanted roof is much more "efficient." Flat rooves invite buildup and water damage. Spires are more efficient besides being more beautiful.
If by "efficient" you mean "the cheapest possible to make" you aren't contradicting Doug's point, you're agreeing with it: ugliness becomes a side-effect of profit maximization.
Michael