Project "Icon". City architecture and capitalist globalization. Skler L.

The book of the famous British sociologist Leslie Skler is a comprehensive sociological analysis of a new type of cult architecture, which began to spread widely around the world since the last quarter of the 20th century. This is a masterful review of the work of leading architects of our time and outstanding architectural “icons” in the context of the development of capitalist globalization, which supports and encourages the creation of increasingly large -scale and ambitious projects. From the standpoint of a sociologist, who is well known with the springs of private capital and the commercial requirements that he makes, the author traces the triumphal path of the Global Project “Icon”, which generates and encourages class polarization and hyper -consumption in modern society. The reader may not agree with his harsh criticism in everything, but in any case, the search for alternative aesthetics of architectural design and urban planning is of undoubted interest.