> how can you possibly formulate a consistent and sensible architecture?
Similar arguments could be made about actual architecture: "If you can't have well-designed and consistent houses, how can you possibly have a well-designed city?"
The best architectures I've seen, by far, had the worst code. Code is not a systemic level issue. The way the pieces fit together is.
A sad fact of good architectures is they actually enable bad code to exist without severe consequences, because that badness is localized.