The Icon Project argues that the transnational capitalist class mobilizes two forms of iconic architecture ¿ unique icons recognized as works of art, notably designed by global starchitects (such as Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid); and typical icons copying elements of unique icons ¿ to promote the same ideological message: the culture-ideology of consumerism.

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.