The style wars between modernism and traditional design usually get stuck on the false choice between continuity and change, as if tradition just means copying the past, and breaking tradition equals modernity. Neither really captures the algorithm we need to follow in order to build better places: evolution. Evolution begins with the past, copying it. Then it goes much further. 

There used to be a big debate on the beautiful versus the sublime. Forest edges are usually beautiful. They do not usually include things like sheer cliffs or water that goes to the horizon. Those have an "awesome beauty" or “sublime” quality that puts one at least slightly on guard. Our ancestors usually sought out beautiful places and were appropriately on guard around the sublime or awe-inspiring.