I dont think for 1 moment probbins was trying to trash anything. As you said there is no one app solution. If there was, then there wouldnt be any interchangeable files like.obj/.fbx ect.
probbins was mearly stating that Houdini is just as capable of modeling as any other package.

I firmly stand by the ideology that its more the artist than the tools. Ive used 3ds max and Maya for years, and I usually choose Houdini to model in, why? Because faffing around with different applications and importing/exporting is not always the best solution. And having a procedural network really does help you to experiment with idea's that would not normally arise easily in other apps.

That being said, lets not degenerate this into x v's y app thread, cause that is just old.

Really cool image orr!
For me seems like slices from a volume.
I am imaging this with an animated procedural noise, can get cool shapes.