Henry George is the 19th century American political economist who understood that economic rents are in complete contradiction to social wealth. Eliminate rents, and people will be free to do more, build more, and enjoy more, because the overhead costs would be greatly reduced and/or eliminated. Unless we make huge changes, America is doomed to all work and no play, including in building and design.

The cost of the actual construction aside, I think a part of this would require more liberal zoning policies that support small-scale landowners, as they would be more open to experiment with unique styles like these. I feel like many new mid-rise and high rise apartment blocks these days are built by large development companies, who are more focused on profit generation than creative ingenuity. The Japanese are known to be more creative with their housing design, despite land scarcity, and might be interesting to study their land use policy.