I remember reading an interview with the special effects modellers who worked on the Star Wars films, wherein they said they put the detail stuff together as if it looked like it did something. If they just put pipes and blocks (and bits from Tamiya tank kits, etc) together tidily but without a 'purpose', it looked unreal. Sometimes, usually if a pattern was repeated (such as on the back of the Millennium Falcon ship) the construction had to be planned beforehand. Other times they made it up as they went along but always with the imaginary 'purpose' in mind. Another interview with a British special effects modeller indicated the same notion was in practise before Star Wars on shows like Space 1999. Widgets, I think we called them back then. Yes, that was it. Before the old king died...