The article seemed like kind of a fluff piece reminiscent of the articles people used to write about flying cars, robot maids, videophones, etc.., but for anyon

The article seemed like kind of a fluff piece reminiscent of the articles people used to write about flying cars, robot maids, videophones, etc.., but for anyone who's interested in this kind of thing, I'd recommend A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander. It was written 40 years ago, but the ideas are still relevant, I think.