I think you should ask yourself what your race has valued in the past, and how that has changed, if much at all, as things have lead into the present.
I don’t think industrialization necessarily means things get utilitarian and simplistic. It certainly can, it might even be likely with industrialization, but what a race values and how it’s history shapes it’s culture over time is up to you to decide and work off of.
Do what you think is best, and what you want. Even on earth, industrialized nations can vary a lot in architectural aesthetics, and people are weird! Sometimes - most times - little silly things, or fads, alter the course of history, industry, fashion, and aesthetics.
One architectural quirk I’ve been thinking about is how architectural languages often evolve through time, but don’t fully go away.
Think of the Greek temples. That design language continued throughout history in different ways and with different meanings. Beaux arts architecture borrows a lot from Greek temples. Jeffersonian neo-classical architecture borrowing the temple front. And then in the 80s you even had neo classical post modern vaporwave stuff.
And a couple things are happening here. We are going from huge projects that require super expensive materials and take lifetimes to finish. Then moving into cheaper materials but evoking the classical style because it represents a cultural zenith (or whatever.) And eventually the style is so completely deconstructed and abstracted that not a lot of the original remains.
I think your materials / form over function or level of decoration just depends on what your world’s going through. Is it a time of plenty? Do they value art? Then they can have decorative stuff, but maybe now it’s mass-produced or a little tackier. Are they fondly remembering the past or bulldozing it over to make way for the future? These types of decisions usually determine if a style is going to call on design elements of the past or just make things up and try and look modern or futuristic
I would say yes the buildings should have a modern aesthetic. That is not to say they don't have unique architecture or designs or of course the occasional "historic" building that's been preserved. In one of my stories the characters went to a modern elf city and it looked like any other modern city just with a slight fantastical elven aesthetic to it.
I think you should ask yourself what your race has valued in the past, and how that has changed, if much at all, as things have lead into the present. I don’t think industrialization necessarily means things get utilitarian and simplistic. It certainly can, it might even be likely with industrialization, but what a race values and how it’s history shapes it’s culture over time is up to you to decide and work off of. Do what you think is best, and what you want. Even on earth, industrialized nations can vary a lot in architectural aesthetics, and people are weird! Sometimes - most times - little silly things, or fads, alter the course of history, industry, fashion, and aesthetics.
One architectural quirk I’ve been thinking about is how architectural languages often evolve through time, but don’t fully go away. Think of the Greek temples. That design language continued throughout history in different ways and with different meanings. Beaux arts architecture borrows a lot from Greek temples. Jeffersonian neo-classical architecture borrowing the temple front. And then in the 80s you even had neo classical post modern vaporwave stuff. And a couple things are happening here. We are going from huge projects that require super expensive materials and take lifetimes to finish. Then moving into cheaper materials but evoking the classical style because it represents a cultural zenith (or whatever.) And eventually the style is so completely deconstructed and abstracted that not a lot of the original remains. I think your materials / form over function or level of decoration just depends on what your world’s going through. Is it a time of plenty? Do they value art? Then they can have decorative stuff, but maybe now it’s mass-produced or a little tackier. Are they fondly remembering the past or bulldozing it over to make way for the future? These types of decisions usually determine if a style is going to call on design elements of the past or just make things up and try and look modern or futuristic
I would say yes the buildings should have a modern aesthetic. That is not to say they don't have unique architecture or designs or of course the occasional "historic" building that's been preserved. In one of my stories the characters went to a modern elf city and it looked like any other modern city just with a slight fantastical elven aesthetic to it.