Sorry I kind of lost track of this conversation. Better late than never, I'll chime in again.
Well I'm not sure I want Superman making me think of the Dark Emperor ( with the swivel chair ) in StarWars. But hay, thats just a prefference I guess. I'm worried about that design going from alien and abstract to something that is very dated in 5 or ten yrs. When you start to go the more grounded route with the computer screens and the buttons and the boop-boops and the switches, then that easily becomes very outdated and even hammey over time. Barry's design is just timeless. That's why the film still holds up so well today. Just my two cents.
I don't care if they give him a bean bag, a divan or Archie Bunker's chair, just *anything* to make the space look like it's made for a human being, and serves an actual function or purpose. The Barry fortress is certainly unique, I'll give you that, but in the end it's just a great big crystal cavern, an empty aircraft hanger of a place with no...anything. Why bother building it all? If all you want is a cave, surely there are plenty around already (even with Batman, Green Arrow, Zorro and the Justice League occupying many of them) without building another one. The way it's designed, you can't put anything in it without ruining the design, so what good is it? Are we supposed to believe Superman spends all his time in that place standing up?
I'd argue there are plenty of ways to do "alien" without doing "barren." And anyway, how "alien" would Kryptonian architecture be? They're still bi-peds with two arms and ten fingers; they would have buttons and levers and door handles and chairs and stairs and -- come on -- something to make a place personal and welcoming. The whole reason for the Fortress of Solitude is that it's an escape. Not a giant sensory depravation chamber kind of escape, but a put-your-feet-up-by-the-fireside kind of escape. Where's the Hall of Trophies? The Interplanetary Zoo? Some would argue that stuff is corny, but it was there because every kid in the world would have wanted it in their own fort. Adventurers have their dens with hunting trophies on the wall, or sports trophies on the shelves, or mementos of past accomplishments; why not Superman? I want to see souvenirs of alien sojourns, stuff that makes you go "What was that weird thing I saw in the corner, there? Where did that come from?" You can get across the idea that Superman has seen and done things no other being has, without turning him into an ascetic monk fasting away on a barren mountain top with nothing but his navel to gaze at.
Also, I see where you're coming from with the "technology dates quickly" observation, but I'd argue the bridge of the Enterprise on the original Star Trek still looks cool and futuristic 40+ years on, even with physical push buttons where today we'd expect touch screens. On the other hand, the "Apple Store" look of the new bridge looked old the day the movie came out, so in the end it's down to your designer. Matt Jeffries created a look for ST:TOS that was unique and idiosyncratic and still influences real-world designers to this day. Sir Ken Adam, too, designed "futuristic" sets for the Bond films that still look futuristic half a century later. If you put the right guy on it, it can be done, and personally I'd like to see that "new guy" -- if he's out there -- get a chance to shine.
Anyway, the film will still be "dated" the instant he steps out of whatever Fortress he's given. Check out the fashions Chris Reeve and Margot Kidder wore, and their IBM Selectric typewriters. Even the gee-whiz monitors all over Singer's Daily Planet newsroom look dated now.