Global markets, and the ever growing telecommunications industries that bridge the distance and geometry of the globe, have brought the diversities of the many vast cultures closer together. This phenomenon provides for a prevailing theory that dominates all work. We can't help but design with this in mind. Television, radio, telephones, Internet, or even quick weekend trips to the other end of the country, or even other countries, provide us with a vision vastly different from what our ancestors were used to, and thus the outcome of our work will necessarily be different. If we blame architects for building poorly designed housing complexes, office complexes or shopping malls, are we focusing on the functional, aesthetic or moral issue of such designs.
Architecture is about aesthetics.
Architects have egos and they want to show what they are capable of doing. I don't blame them for that. It's a wonderful feeling to know that you have created something of lasting beauty. The problem comes up when the aesthetics are contradictory to ones beliefs. This argument is by far the most debated issue I can think of.