[quote author="anela" date=1209002379]i think on some level what you express bk is something that many consumers intuitively <em>feel</em>.</blockquote>
I agree with you totally. Consumers often are not able to articulate why they like and dislike certain houses, stores, and interior. Most of us have excellent taste for cars and Fashion with clean line and proportion. The European designers spent a great deal of time refining their prototypes.
The artistry is all confined to the surface treatment and craftsmanship. On the contrary architecture requires the surface layer treatment as well as the internal spatial and functional resolution. Very few architects out there master just one let alone both. Those are good with only facade are stage set designers and those are good with floor plans know nothing about exterior beauty, charm and proportion.
Over the years, architecture evolved from a"craft" to a "trade". Floor plans of homes have improved tremendously but exterior form and charm are the inverse reciprocal.