SGI hardware was beautiful -- the boxes were just colorful molded plastic (and rubber?) yes, but they had a transcendence about them. You knew upon looking that they weren't normal PCs but "workstations", a cut above what us plebeians could afford.
While SGI boxes were beautiful, IRIX itself was... not. It had a Motif look which looked outdated, even compared to OS/2.
I rather think Motif looks fine. People complain but eye candy is wasted resources.
Not-so-Common Desktop Environment is a modern attempt at the style. I don't end up using it, but it reminds me wonderfully of a time when computers were made by and for people.