Review

Leslie Sklair has produced an elegantly written, wide-ranging exploration of that over-used and under-examined totem of our times, the icon. The Icon Project deconstructs the seductive image of power that rises from the uneasy depths of transnational capitalism and global consumer culture to symbolize both modern desire and social control ― this is a masterful work of political-economic critique and architectural analysis. (Sharon Zukin, author of Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places)

This book ought to be required reading for my generation. A great tough survey ― crucially from outside the architectural world ― which manages to show us the huge shiny, lumpen shape of the transnational development Utopia we've come to accept as inevitable. Most of all, it shows just how even the best architects and architecture have become 'enthusiastic partners' in the global project of turning the whole way we treat the world into a form of development opportunity and corporate entertainment. A gripping read, as well as a very, very scary one. There's never been a bigger need for architects to use all their other skills to think about how to design us out of this place. (Kester Rattenbury, Professor of Architecture, University of Westminster)

In this masterfully sweeping survey of the leading architects of our times ... Sklair dares to situate the undisputed creativity and genius of distinguished architectural icons in the context of capitalist dynamics that sustain and privilege the demand for ever more wildly ambitious designs. With a sociologist's understanding of power and the commercial requisites associated with globalization, a comparative-historical appreciation for developmental context, and an activist's social sensibilities clearly on his mind, Leslie Sklair reveals the utopian and dystopian elements of modern design practice. Readers may not fully agree with all his stringent critiques, but they will embrace his search for an alternative aesthetics of urban design and city-building, even as they continue to ponder how individual virtuoso can be disassociated from the larger consumption dynamics that brand architectural projects as iconic. (Diane E. Davis, Harvard Graduate School of Design)

Leslie Sklair's sociological perspective on iconic architecture surveys conditions under which it has emerged and the social and political demands to which it responds. This is a deeply informative account and at times a cautionary tale. (Denise Scott Brown, VSB Architects)

About the Author

Leslie Sklair is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the London School of Economics. He is also the author of The Transnational Capitalist Class and Globalization: Capitalism and its Alternatives.