Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra-Thin

By Matthew Soules,

Book cover of Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra-Thin: Architecture and Capitalism in the 21st Century

Book description

"Soules's excellent book makes sense of the capitalist forces we all feel but cannot always name... Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra Thin arms architects and the general public with an essential understanding of how capitalism makes property. Required reading for those who think tomorrow can be different from today."- Jack…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra-Thin as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Through devastating stories of unoccupied housing developments in China and Spain, gargantuan mansions built mostly underground the streets of London, and pencil-thin skyscrapers in New York where residents never have to see each other, Soules explains how “architecture has become finance and finance has become architecture.”

In its relentless pursuit of profit, capital has created the conditions for the built environment to be redesigned and standardized for easier trading as cash liquidity. This movement since the 1980s explains both the rampant urbanization of the world and the increasing canyon between the haves and have-nots. 

Want books like Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra-Thin?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra-Thin.

Browse books like Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra-Thin

Book cover of Concrete Island
Book cover of The New Urban Frontier: Gentrification and the Revanchist City
Book cover of Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,187

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in architecture, economics, and capitalism?

Architecture 83 books
Economics 411 books
Capitalism 215 books