If it is important for you to show texture detail as in joints or cross section drawings or elevations then you can use a combination of solids and surface planes for details. The wise modeler is wary of both and makes equal use of both forms to provide alterative methods to illustrating the desired graphic documents. There is an extra problem to consider. If you have to move a corner of a single wall when it is a solid you must select the corresponding segements for relocation. If the same wall was constructed from surface planes, the same corner will have repitition of segments where each surface plane is at right angles to another.
Solids seems to be far more measurable in terms of relocating detail or scale.
You are right about the cultural economics of curvilinear, but that is totally artificial. New architects should not be discouraged or pushed towards making more simplistic boxes. If many segments are woven on a floor, keeping the walls thickness uniform becomes a problem during scaling. Extruding the wall thickness after scaling can make better solids, ultimately.