I kind of like those japanese prefab structures. Maybe some of the colors are a little loud, but that could be changed. It seems modernism does a lot to get attention and maybe loud colors are one of the less enjoyable aspects of it (from a passive observers view, sometimes). I really love modern architecture, it is so innovative and different, it really provides something new, and calls to light a feeling of futurism, like its letting us know that technology is prgresing and tomorrow is almost here today. So often though, modernists presume to know how to build a functional structure without having the trial and error and experience that comes with more traditional structures. The traditional structures in place today are the culmination of thousands of years of design experience. Modernism just comes in and tries to rewrite the rules, often without a great understanding of what the rules originally were.
I have never lived in a modernist house, so I cannot wiegh in as a firsthand opinion in that sense. I have lived in Albany NY though. During the administration of Nelson Rockefeller, two great modernist monuments/structures were built, the SUNY Albany Campus and the Empire State Plaza. These buildings have defined what living with modernism is to me. They are very beautiful, but thay have certain quirks, like at the SUNY campus, one can rarely make any trip without crossing a number of corners, or walking around something. This aspect, favoring monumentality and aesthetics seems to take away from enjoyment of the structure since some functionality is lost. The bright blue houses among the ranch houses seem to me to be much of a monument. When modernist structures can become more functional and learn more from the successes of the past, I will be an even happier man.
SUNY Albany
Empire State Plaza