Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra Thin: Architecture and Capitalism in the Twenty-First Century
By Matthew Soules. Princeton Architectural Press, 2021
Sick City: Disease, Race, Inequality and Urban Land
By Patrick M. Condon, 2021
Condominium towers, including Zaha Hadid Architects? One Thousand Museum (second from left), 2020, in downtown Miami. Photo by Hufton+ Crow, courtesy of the photographer and Zaha Hadid Architects
The axiom ?form follows finance? is not new, but its effect on architecture and affordability is undeniably at a crisis point. Two new books on the subject, both by professors in the University of British Columbia?s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, aspire to unpack the effects of this phenomenon on the shape and operation of big cities. (Disclosure: I have collaborated on past editorial projects with both authors.) Matthew Soules? Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra Thin: Architecture and Capitalism in the Twenty-First Century explores the visibly tangible effects of a globalized economy. Its title references three of the most unsettling new architectural formats generated by the global commodification of real estate. And that?s just the hook: the bracing reality is that finance capitalism determines the shape of our built environment far more than any red-blooded architect would care to admit.
?Icebergs? are created by those who, having maxed out their allowable height and footprint, go deep underground?several storeys, in fact?to the point ...