The ethic identified in the book takes Wilson beyond technocratic obsessions or transient pre-occupations with style, towards a more radical agenda than many would recognize. This is evidenced in Wilson's concern to address both the 'inner' (the psyche, physiological needs, and patterns of use) and the 'outer' (the humanist polis) in his architecture. Such agendas are timely and throw a significant challenge to the pervasive individualism of the object-city of 'landmark' architecture.