Which style of home is timidly gaining momentum and poised to unfold in the future? What's interesting is the mega-trend that stirs whole decades, not the seasonal furniture sales.

I believe we're moving toward "big ethnic" — a style that points to the vernacular and, in an age of globalization, to the natural.

Most would agree that ethnic is more of a humble, rustic style: country houses. For thousands of years, architecture has reflected the trappings of power. Even the "modern" styles at the turn of the century glorified the power of technology.

But architecture follows society. Today we teach children to value one another — not as subjects of their king and country, not as an appendage to a shovel or a computer, but as citizens of the Earth. It's becoming embarrassing to own a personal palace, even if you're rich, and no longer shameful to live modestly and help those in need.

Earthlings will resettle Mars; architects will rethink the past, digging beyond crusades and the redrawing of empires to reach our common roots.

This is the new fashion — mixing the look of Mediterranean cottages into Western styles. And, of course, the flourishing of eco-architecture, which nonetheless lacks a human flavor.