Me I am not agree with the critics of the fruity look
To be able to set the maximum of information on one screen there are no alternatives.
Many modern looks (as it has been said) are software that have limited feature or can display on relevant information.
For security solutions, we can indeed display a blank screen when nothing happened and 3 videos when an alarm triggers.
In the case of Ardour we can not automatically display some data only.
The only one way is to design some “style-sheet” in order to make views customizable . For that more displays or a more configurable display of the track/busses have to be design. That can be for the A3.5
In an audio application, it is impossible to know what the user will reach for next: level control? eq? region trim? transport?
It’s a fine line between (a) providing a clean look that doesn’t overwhelm a new user and (b) providing the huge array of various colored/sized/located elements to help the experienced user quickly find the controls needed to get work done quickly.
