Architects in general have been out of touch with the general public for a while. Designing buildings to impress other architects instead of building things people think look nice or actually want to live/work in. So many buildings are built in order to stand out instead of blend in to the local character and actually enhance it. Now local character has nearly died in new architecture where everything is the same everywhere. There is momentum slowly building in the other direction, but its just getting started.
Where do people go on vacation and where are the most expensive parts of cities? People go on vacation to cities with beautiful vernacular architecture that is enjoyable to walk around and explore. The areas with the most authentic architecture to that city are the areas that are the most expensive. Theres no reason that more of this stuff cant be built today. Paris is knocking down its old commie block suburbs and replacing them with neo-hausmann buildings that expand what is great about the parisian core way beyond what is there today. In 50 years or 100 years these will be just as authentic as any other areas, and in the meantime these are beautiful, walkable, lovely, enjoyable, relaxing areas to live.
Ive said it before but if youre an architect and youre asking “how can I make this stand out as much as possible” youre asking the 100% wrong question.
They should always ask “what should go here that would make this the most enjoyable place for humans to live/work and would improve the area around it by being built”.
-Edit to add, thats not to say all commie blocks are bad or all modern architecture that is designed to be flashy is bad. Just that when thats 95% of what is being built to the point its making all cities look exactly the same then its bad imo. Too much of anything isnt good. Great cities have all different kinds of architecture mixed together imo. Great cities can also have their own style where most buildings look a similar way. The problem (in my opinion) is when one style is being built in every city across the entire world.