I think it should depend on the context. One of the problems seems to be that there is no public space for 'monuments' in the modern world, so we get user-hosti

I think it should depend on the context. One of the problems seems to be that there is no public space for 'monuments' in the modern world, so we get user-hostile bourgeois 'form over function' in buildings where people actually need to live and work etc. I would rather a division between 'temples' of aesthetic value, where the architects can play aesthetic games, and 'secular' spaces of more utilitarian value.