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Is modern architecture more like an exercise in egotecture?

In design terms a product designer satisfies an actual need. But with architecture it seems to serve its own need/self purpose (like some forms of art) Are modern buildings more about the ego statement of the architect rather than being about successful design...

Public Comments

1. The beauty of modern architecture lies not in its immediate perception but in its ability to allow for the reflective interpretation of the perceiver. The same is true of all modern art. Modernism is only hell for those who possess inadequate interpretive gifts--they are too noisy and participate too much in modernity to appreciate the "standing-back" of modern art from the surrounding chaotic conditions and modern art's commentary on them.
2. I think it's safe to say that architecture has always been in danger of egotecture. The truly great buildings, I believe, are the ones that seamlessly combine the vision of the architect with the functional purpose of the structure and the needs of the client. Architecture has always floated somewhere between art and design. I suppose with the increasing emphasis on the individual that you find in modern times, one could argue that the ego needs of the architect are more prominent now than centuries ago, but I do not think it's a wholey new phenomenon.