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.

In the last quarter century, a new form of iconic architecture has appeared throughout the world's major cities. Typically designed by globe-trotting "starchitects" or by a few large transnational architectural firms, these projects are almost always funded by the private sector in the service of private interests. Whereas in the past monumental architecture often had a strong public component, the urban ziggurats of today are emblems and conduits of capitalist globalization.
In The Icon Project, Leslie Sklair focuses on ways in which capitalist globalization is produced and represented all over the world, especially in globalizing cities. Sklair traces how the iconic buildings of our era-elaborate shopping malls, spectacular museums, and vast urban megaprojects--constitute the triumphal "Icon Project" of contemporary global capitalism, promoting increasing inequality and hyperconsumerism. Two of the most significant strains of iconic architecture--unique icons recognized as works of art, designed by the likes of Gehry, Foster, Koolhaas, and Hadid, as well as successful, derivative icons that copy elements of the starchitects' work--speak to the centrality of hyperconsumerism within contemporary capitalism. Along with explaining how the architecture industry organizes the social production and marketing of iconic structures, he also shows how corporations increasingly dominate the built environment and promote the trend towards globalizing, consumerist cities. The Icon Project, Sklair argues, is a weapon in the struggle to solidify capitalist hegemony as well as reinforce transnational capitalist control of where we live, what we consume, and how we think.

INTRODUCTION
The argument
Sources
Structure of the book
CHAPTER 1
ICONIC ARCHITECTURE AND CAPITALIST GLOBALIZATION
Architecture, Power, Aesthetics
The Icon: history and theory of an idea
Iconic for when
Iconic for whom
Iconic for where
CHAPTER 2
TWO TYPES OF ICONIC ARCHITECTURE: UNIQUE AND TYPICAL
The rise of iconic architecture
Iconicity claims of top firms
Starchitects and signature architects
Architecture theme parks and other iconic projects
CHAPTER 3
THE ARCHITECTURE INDUSTRY AND TYPICAL ICONS
The sociology of architecture
The architecture industry in the new millennium
Successful typical icons
Celebrity infrastructure
CHAPTER 4
CORPORATE STARCHITECTS AND UNIQUE ICONS
Frank Lloyd Wright and the FLW industry
Le Corbusier and the Corb industry
The rise of the starchitects
Frank Gehry
Norman Foster
Rem Koolhaas
Zaha Hadid
CHAPTER 5
THE POLITICS OF ICONIC ARCHITECTURE
Architectural iconicity and identities
Politics and the architecture of transnational social spaces
Iconic architecture in urban megaprojects
Paris
China
CHAPTER 6
ARCHITECTS AS PROFESSIONALS AND IDEOLOGUES
The criticality debate
Third World Modernism and postcolonialisms
Postcolonialist understandings of architecture
Disney, China, and India
Sustainability, 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 globalization
Architecture, consumerism, and the media
Iconic architecture and shopping
Performance spaces
Displacement
CHAPTER 8
ARCHITECTURE, CITIES AND ALTERNATIVE GLOBALIZATIONS
APPENDIX Interview codes
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX