Leslie Sklair is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the London School of Economics. He worked in a cotton mill outside Glasgow for two years before going to university to study sociology and philosophy. Both experiences fostered a life-long interest in how capitalist society works in different ways for different groups of people. In particular his long-standing interest in architecture and cities sharpened his vision on the power of the built environment to shape our lives.

• INTRODUCTION The argumentSourcesStructure of the book CHAPTER 1 ICONIC ARCHITECTURE AND CAPITALIST GLOBALIZATION Architecture, Power, AestheticsThe Icon: history and theory of an ideaIconic for whenIconic for whomIconic for where CHAPTER 2 TWO TYPES OF ICONIC ARCHITECTURE: UNIQUE AND TYPICAL The rise of iconic architectureIconicity claims of top firmsStarchitects and signature architectsArchitecture theme parks and other iconic projects CHAPTER 3 THE ARCHITECTURE INDUSTRY AND TYPICAL ICONS The sociology of architectureThe architecture industry in the new millenniumSuccessful typical iconsCelebrity infrastructure CHAPTER 4 CORPORATE STARCHITECTS AND UNIQUE ICONSFrank Lloyd Wright and the FLW industry Le Corbusier and the Corb industryThe rise of the starchitects Frank GehryNorman FosterRem KoolhaasZaha Hadid CHAPTER 5 THE POLITICS OF ICONIC ARCHITECTUREArchitectural iconicity and identitiesPolitics and the architecture of transnational social spacesIconic architecture in urban megaprojectsParisChina CHAPTER 6 ARCHITECTS AS PROFESSIONALS AND IDEOLOGUES The criticality debateThird World Modernism and postcolonialismsPostcolonialist understandings of architectureDisney, China, and IndiaSustainability, human rights, and the architect's place in society CHAPTER 7 ARCHITECTURE AND THE CULTURE-IDEOLOGY OF CONSUMERISM Consumerist space in the city of capitalist globalizationArchitecture, consumerism, and the media Iconic architecture and shoppingPerformance spacesDisplacement CHAPTER 8 ARCHITECTURE, CITIES AND ALTERNATIVE GLOBALIZATIONS APPENDIX Interview codesBIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX

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.