modernist vs. postmodernist tendencies, according to Nan Ellin

As I was reading the book Integral Urbanism by Nan Ellin, I was a bit intrigued by her arguments regarding a balance between radicalism and traditionalism. It is her opinion that in order to create balanced interventions in the urban fabric, one must pay attention to the present, and concentrate on the issues of our time. To do so, one must find an equilibrium between radical and traditional ideas in each intervention.
Previous to this point, Ellin had mentioned that radicalists and traditionalists do not pay attention to problems presently in society/urban fabric, and that the integral approach should be different than either of those, and more integrated within current conditions. She never quite explains whether or not she means that the approaches of radicalism should be merely borrowed from, or that they should be actively engaged in by each individual to create a personal balance. I think she probably means that according to each specific situation, it may be good to borrow from each of these trends, but I also believe that she discredits the creation of new ideas from personal obsessions, and even from suspension of reality, more than she should.
I see radicalism as a way to create more long term progress; ideas such as carbon fiber structures, translucent concrete, and building generating scripts may not seem either feasible or useful right now, but who knows what advantages they may provide us in the future? I don't feel that Ellin gives enough credit to this type of innovation, mainly because she sees urgent problems in today's cities that need more attention. While I won't contest this, I believe that it is important to have innovators looking at ideas that are not necessarily solutions yet, but may become important pieces to be inserted into the puzzle later on. So it is my belief that designers should not merely strike a balance between past, present, and future, but should be active participants (or at the very least interested parties) in each. It is only by taking a more holistic look at the problems and solutions that we may find the best answers. And by taking some chances.