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Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra-Thin: Architecture and Capitalism in the 21st Century
"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 Self, coeditor of Real Life Without Debt
In Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra Thin , Matthew Soules issues an indictment of how finance capitalism dramatically alters not only architectural forms but also the very nature of our cities and societies. We rarely consider architecture to be an important factor in contemporary economic and political debates, yet sparsely occupied ultra-thin "pencil towers" develop in our cities, functioning as speculative wealth storage for the superrich, and cavernous "iceberg" homes extend architectural assets many stories below street level. Meanwhile, communities around the globe are blighted by zombie and ghost urbanism, marked by unoccupied neighborhoods and abandoned housing developments.
Learn how the use of architecture as an investment tool has accelerated in recent years, heightening inequality and contributing to worldwide financial
• See how investment imperatives shape what and how we build, changing the very structure of our communities
• Delve into high-profile projects, like the luxury apartments of architect Rafael Viñoly's 432 Park Avenue
• Understand the convergence of technology, finance, and spirituality, which together are configuring the financialized walls within which we eat, sleep, and work
Includes dozens of photos and drawings of architectural phenomena that have changed the way we live. Essential reading for anyone interested in architecture, design, economics, and understanding the way our world is formed.
In Icebergs, Zombies, and the Ultra Thin , Matthew Soules issues an indictment of how finance capitalism dramatically alters not only architectural forms but also the very nature of our cities and societies. We rarely consider architecture to be an important factor in contemporary economic and political debates, yet sparsely occupied ultra-thin "pencil towers" develop in our cities, functioning as speculative wealth storage for the superrich, and cavernous "iceberg" homes extend architectural assets many stories below street level. Meanwhile, communities around the globe are blighted by zombie and ghost urbanism, marked by unoccupied neighborhoods and abandoned housing developments.
Learn how the use of architecture as an investment tool has accelerated in recent years, heightening inequality and contributing to worldwide financial
• See how investment imperatives shape what and how we build, changing the very structure of our communities
• Delve into high-profile projects, like the luxury apartments of architect Rafael Viñoly's 432 Park Avenue
• Understand the convergence of technology, finance, and spirituality, which together are configuring the financialized walls within which we eat, sleep, and work
Includes dozens of photos and drawings of architectural phenomena that have changed the way we live. Essential reading for anyone interested in architecture, design, economics, and understanding the way our world is formed.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published May 18, 2021
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January 19, 2022dope
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June 7, 2022Overall a fascinating dive into the relationship between contemporary architecture and finance capitalism. The title I think provides a hint towards the book’s approach: a bit trippy/metaphorical, philosophical, and bricolage-y (in the best way). Some arguments I found unpersuasive and some downright outrageous but all were at least evocative and like, kinda fun?!
Discussions I particularly enjoyed:
The "vacant body" and the (in)corporeality of contemporary architecture
Finance capitalism shaping architectural form
Case studies of One Hyde Park and the ~Ensenada exurban investment mats
Discussions I particularly enjoyed:
The "vacant body" and the (in)corporeality of contemporary architecture
Finance capitalism shaping architectural form
Case studies of One Hyde Park and the ~Ensenada exurban investment mats
November 28, 2021
La premisa de este libro se presiente por el título mismo, la arquitectura no es sólo un símbolo o analogía del poder económico, sino más que nunca, un componente funcional e integral del capitalismo financiero, si tradicionalmente la arquitectura buscaba llenar y equilibrar tres roles fundamentales como el proveer refugio, manifestar cultura y encarnar riqueza, en la era actual del capitalismo financiero, se ha recalibrado este orden y la relación entre los roles ha cambiado, sirviéndose más de las funciones de la riqueza en la construcción.
Es un libro bastante contemporáneo, sus páginas analiza el trabajo de arquitectos como Bjarke, Viñoly y Zaha Hadid, entre otros; apunta sobre lo paramétrico y la visualización digital (también a Lumion le toca su raspadita), y si, México, ese que se invita solo a todas las fiestas, aparece en un capítulo acompañado de su amigo INFONAVIT. Digo que es un libro bastante contemporáneo porque se posiciona en temas como el transhumanismo, el movimiento de Black Lives Matter, la epidemia de COVID, Silicon Valley y por supuesto, el cambio climático.
Señala todo aquello que de alguna forma advertimos pero pocas veces sabemos nombrar.
Es un libro bastante contemporáneo, sus páginas analiza el trabajo de arquitectos como Bjarke, Viñoly y Zaha Hadid, entre otros; apunta sobre lo paramétrico y la visualización digital (también a Lumion le toca su raspadita), y si, México, ese que se invita solo a todas las fiestas, aparece en un capítulo acompañado de su amigo INFONAVIT. Digo que es un libro bastante contemporáneo porque se posiciona en temas como el transhumanismo, el movimiento de Black Lives Matter, la epidemia de COVID, Silicon Valley y por supuesto, el cambio climático.
Señala todo aquello que de alguna forma advertimos pero pocas veces sabemos nombrar.
September 9, 2022
Para mí es un deleite una lectura que la fundamenta un arduo trabajo de investigación; el análisis, criticas y reflexiones que el autor expone no son solo inteligentes sino valiosas y asertivas. Todas las referencias y ejemplos que expone, incluyendo el de INFONAVIT en México, le da mas credibilidad a sus argumentos. Realmente invita a reflexión y al pensamiento crítico.
For me it is a delight a reading that is based on an arduous research work; the analysis, criticism and reflections that the author exposes are not only intelligent but also valuable and assertive. All the references and examples that he exposes, including that of INFONAVIT in my Mexico, give his arguments more credibility. It really invites reflection and critical thinking.
For me it is a delight a reading that is based on an arduous research work; the analysis, criticism and reflections that the author exposes are not only intelligent but also valuable and assertive. All the references and examples that he exposes, including that of INFONAVIT in my Mexico, give his arguments more credibility. It really invites reflection and critical thinking.
July 1, 2021
Soules' book looks at the relationship between modern financial capitalism and architecture. By analyzing current architectural trends, including sub-basements in high-end buildings in London, pencil-thin skyscrapers in New York and empty condo towers around the globe, he shows how financial capitalism is manifested and drives these physical changes in architecture. It is a fascinating book and an important read for anyone interested in contemporary architecture.
"Buildings simultaneously fulfill three elemental roles: providing shelter, manifesting culture, and embodying wealth. A building always provides protection from the elements. At the same time, by necessity, it embodies cultural ideas and practices. And because building require labor to design and construct and because they incorporate physical materials, they are always an embodiment of wealth...The premise of this book is that in the current era of finance capitalism, since around 1980, the wealth function of buildings has significantly increased...Within finance capitalism, the function of buildings as profit-generating investment assets rises to such significance that in many instance it overshadows the historically more prominent roles of shelter and culture." 23
"Hilferding argues that the distinctive "specific activity of the stock exchange is really speculation." Thus finance capitalism is inextricable from fictitious capital that allows for unique profits in a speculative structure. Hilferding recognizes that speculation is unproductive, yet nevertheless necessary to the function of capitalism." 27
"Arrighi's The Long Twentieth Century: Money, Power, and the Origins of Our Times makes the case that there have been four great "hegemons" of capitalism, each defined by their capital city: Genoa (1340-1630), Amsterdam (1560-1780), London (1740-1930) and New York (1870-present)." 28
"The post-1980 financialized economy is interrelated with two contemporaneous phenomena: neoliberalism and globalization. The relationship is so intimate that it is hard to disengage them from one another." 29
"While the definition of neoliberalism is diffuse, in current discourse it tends to signify economic policies-such as privatization, deregulation, and decreased government spending-that expand the role of the private sector. Many neoliberal policies and practices played a key role in the ascent of finance capitalism. One of the most important occurred in 1971, with Richard Nixon's New Economic Policy, which suspended the gold standard." 30
"It is hard to overstate the importance of housing to current capitalism. Market-based financing of housing has grown dramatically since the deregulation of financial systems." 36
"...but financial capitalism's emphasis on real estate has been abetted by multiple factors that have increased market size and the easy of real estate transactions. Two primary ones are the invention of the condominium and the globalization of the real estate market. Legalized in North America in the 1960s but not gaining popularity until the 1990s, condominiums have provided a low-cost way to enter the real estate market with streamlined transactions."46
"Owned but empty units in zombie urbanism tend to serve three functions: as wealth storage, as speculative assets, and as secondary residences. These functions can operate discreetly but more often work in combination." 52
"The French economist Thomas Piketty argues that whenever the rate of return on capital than the rate of economic growth over a significant period of time, wealth inequality increases...Piketty's core position is that capitalism is structurally predisposed to favour returns on investment over wages from labor. Finance capitalism as it has risen since 1980 emphasized investing as the preferred form of capitalist activity, accelerating the rate of return on capital and therefore generating heightened inequality." 107
"Schumacher uses the term parametricism to identify the style of architecture that has emerged in the twenty-first century by those practising parametric design. Parametric design utilized algorithmic thinking to identify rules, or parameters, that determine the relationship between design input criteria and design output, and among design elements." 117
"The interior now appears little more than a space to frame a view, and a receptacle for appliances and fixtures that signify luxury and privilege." 126
"Starting with the Utah Condominium Act of 1960, jurisdictions throughout North America enabled a new form of direct ownership: the condominium. In the words of Canadian legal scholar Douglas C. Harris, the condominium is a "legal invention without peer in its capacity to increase density of private ownership in land" because it "simplifies the stacking of fee simple interests [absolute ownership]m in land in a vertical column." 133
"As the architecture critic Paul Goldberger notes when comparing New York City's co-ops to that city's new crop of condominiums, "Everything about the city's co-op buildings...is structured to make it impossible to treat them as commodities. That, however, is precisely what the new condominiums are: tradable commodities, perfect for the speculatively inclined.: 134
"While many recreational programs provide housing projects with clear identities and imbue them with sought-after post social attributes, one has played an outsize role in the era of finance capitalism: golf....The formulaic ingredients of greens, sand traps, and water features succeed in generation a simulacrum of nature. And as the primary public space within these developments, they help constraint social life to what is possible on a gold course-a highly limited sociality." 142
"If it is possible to say that industrial capitalism witnessed the rise of the occupied tower, then finance capitalism has engendered a return to the non sheltering, unoccupied tower. But while early towers were purposefully intended for sparse or intermittent occupation, the new unoccupied towers of finance capitalism masquerade as housing." 173
"As the American geographer Ruth Wilson Gilmore has said, "Capitalism requires inequality and racism enshrines it." 209
"Buildings simultaneously fulfill three elemental roles: providing shelter, manifesting culture, and embodying wealth. A building always provides protection from the elements. At the same time, by necessity, it embodies cultural ideas and practices. And because building require labor to design and construct and because they incorporate physical materials, they are always an embodiment of wealth...The premise of this book is that in the current era of finance capitalism, since around 1980, the wealth function of buildings has significantly increased...Within finance capitalism, the function of buildings as profit-generating investment assets rises to such significance that in many instance it overshadows the historically more prominent roles of shelter and culture." 23
"Hilferding argues that the distinctive "specific activity of the stock exchange is really speculation." Thus finance capitalism is inextricable from fictitious capital that allows for unique profits in a speculative structure. Hilferding recognizes that speculation is unproductive, yet nevertheless necessary to the function of capitalism." 27
"Arrighi's The Long Twentieth Century: Money, Power, and the Origins of Our Times makes the case that there have been four great "hegemons" of capitalism, each defined by their capital city: Genoa (1340-1630), Amsterdam (1560-1780), London (1740-1930) and New York (1870-present)." 28
"The post-1980 financialized economy is interrelated with two contemporaneous phenomena: neoliberalism and globalization. The relationship is so intimate that it is hard to disengage them from one another." 29
"While the definition of neoliberalism is diffuse, in current discourse it tends to signify economic policies-such as privatization, deregulation, and decreased government spending-that expand the role of the private sector. Many neoliberal policies and practices played a key role in the ascent of finance capitalism. One of the most important occurred in 1971, with Richard Nixon's New Economic Policy, which suspended the gold standard." 30
"It is hard to overstate the importance of housing to current capitalism. Market-based financing of housing has grown dramatically since the deregulation of financial systems." 36
"...but financial capitalism's emphasis on real estate has been abetted by multiple factors that have increased market size and the easy of real estate transactions. Two primary ones are the invention of the condominium and the globalization of the real estate market. Legalized in North America in the 1960s but not gaining popularity until the 1990s, condominiums have provided a low-cost way to enter the real estate market with streamlined transactions."46
"Owned but empty units in zombie urbanism tend to serve three functions: as wealth storage, as speculative assets, and as secondary residences. These functions can operate discreetly but more often work in combination." 52
"The French economist Thomas Piketty argues that whenever the rate of return on capital than the rate of economic growth over a significant period of time, wealth inequality increases...Piketty's core position is that capitalism is structurally predisposed to favour returns on investment over wages from labor. Finance capitalism as it has risen since 1980 emphasized investing as the preferred form of capitalist activity, accelerating the rate of return on capital and therefore generating heightened inequality." 107
"Schumacher uses the term parametricism to identify the style of architecture that has emerged in the twenty-first century by those practising parametric design. Parametric design utilized algorithmic thinking to identify rules, or parameters, that determine the relationship between design input criteria and design output, and among design elements." 117
"The interior now appears little more than a space to frame a view, and a receptacle for appliances and fixtures that signify luxury and privilege." 126
"Starting with the Utah Condominium Act of 1960, jurisdictions throughout North America enabled a new form of direct ownership: the condominium. In the words of Canadian legal scholar Douglas C. Harris, the condominium is a "legal invention without peer in its capacity to increase density of private ownership in land" because it "simplifies the stacking of fee simple interests [absolute ownership]m in land in a vertical column." 133
"As the architecture critic Paul Goldberger notes when comparing New York City's co-ops to that city's new crop of condominiums, "Everything about the city's co-op buildings...is structured to make it impossible to treat them as commodities. That, however, is precisely what the new condominiums are: tradable commodities, perfect for the speculatively inclined.: 134
"While many recreational programs provide housing projects with clear identities and imbue them with sought-after post social attributes, one has played an outsize role in the era of finance capitalism: golf....The formulaic ingredients of greens, sand traps, and water features succeed in generation a simulacrum of nature. And as the primary public space within these developments, they help constraint social life to what is possible on a gold course-a highly limited sociality." 142
"If it is possible to say that industrial capitalism witnessed the rise of the occupied tower, then finance capitalism has engendered a return to the non sheltering, unoccupied tower. But while early towers were purposefully intended for sparse or intermittent occupation, the new unoccupied towers of finance capitalism masquerade as housing." 173
"As the American geographer Ruth Wilson Gilmore has said, "Capitalism requires inequality and racism enshrines it." 209
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August 19, 2021The characterization of architectural/urban typologies and breakdown of the financial underpinnings of emerging design elements were interesting and useful, particularly the more empirical parts which seemed oddly sublimated. The economic and social (she muttered, as a planner reading architects), nevermind theoretical, framing a little bit too thinly developed. But fun nevertheless.
August 2, 2021
My 3 stars is more based on personal preference than anything negative about this book. I'm more interested in the political and economic aspects of built form and less about the actual structural elements. I'd still recommend this for someone trying to understand the complexities of the housing crisis in Vancouver and globally, especially for developing an understanding beyond cursing foreign buyers and densification ("safety deposit boxes in the sky!"). While there is significant content about these issues, the book looks at the commodification of real estate as a whole, across the housing spectrum from luxury condos to suburban sub-division detached houses rented out by REITS, as well as commercial real estate. While the focus is on post-2008, there is also discussion of the historical political, economic and even philosophical forces that brought us here.
January 24, 2023
Thoughtful, critical, and morose. This book finds its force in its gripping analysis of the ways capitalism, and in particular finance capitalism, has taken hold of all kinds of ventures, including housing. The ultra rich buy more and more, housing becomes an asset, the poor get poorer as the rich find more ways to avoid taxation through financial instruments, and eventually we find ourselves in a situation of more and more inequality (as Piketty and others have demonstrated convincingly). This book highlights just how this has taken shape, and it’s consequent effects on the way we view housing and architecture.
Ultimately, this work falls in line with the oft-repeated and rather depressing claim that “it is easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism.” And so, while there seems no out, works like these are doubly necessary to thinking differently.
Ultimately, this work falls in line with the oft-repeated and rather depressing claim that “it is easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism.” And so, while there seems no out, works like these are doubly necessary to thinking differently.
June 28, 2021
Surprisingly readable. Got a lot out of this. Gets bogged down in that all-too-familiar, all-too-insufferable architectophilosophical jargon in Chapter 7. But really, only in Chapter 7, which is a huge accomplishment in this field of discourse.
February 10, 2022
The "pencil skyscrapers" of NYC were my personal gateway into looking more critically at buildings in our world, and Matthew Soules clearly and compellingly helps explain what I've been looking at but not quite been able to put a finger on with the rise of the "luxury" category, the super rich, and the entrenchment of wealth into cities everywhere. Soules helps summarize and link the forces of globalization and financialization to the contexts of capital and architecture with clear archtypal examples and simple language (if not abstractly symbolic at times).
What wasn't expected (but was quite titillating, at least for me) was his concluding chapters exploring the morals--and even spirituality--of financialized architecture. As far-fetched as it could seem, Soules succinctly yet thoughly constructs his arguments and settings for his claims on what can be gleaned from the design choices and language directly from original architects, and beyond that to offering interpretations of what these new architectural forms mean. These editorial comments provided a satisfactory closure to this intellectual inquiry, and for me as a non-academic was a perfectly sized work to both reward and satiate my interest in the topic.
What wasn't expected (but was quite titillating, at least for me) was his concluding chapters exploring the morals--and even spirituality--of financialized architecture. As far-fetched as it could seem, Soules succinctly yet thoughly constructs his arguments and settings for his claims on what can be gleaned from the design choices and language directly from original architects, and beyond that to offering interpretations of what these new architectural forms mean. These editorial comments provided a satisfactory closure to this intellectual inquiry, and for me as a non-academic was a perfectly sized work to both reward and satiate my interest in the topic.
October 21, 2024
It’s another compelling book that examines how greedy, far-right capitalism is destroying the world. Real estate and architecture have frequently acted as powerful tools of racism. There is no doubt that the inequalities present in financial capitalism are racially charged—evident in practices like institutional investors using predatory tactics to acquire single-family homes in predominantly Black neighborhoods, and in the spatial philanthropy of Vancouver House, which promotes segregation on a global scale.
I recommend reading together with The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market andO pobre de direita: A vingança dos bastardos. Though the 2nd book is in Portuguese can be easily translated with Google Translator.
I recommend reading together with The Big Myth: How American Business Taught Us to Loathe Government and Love the Free Market andO pobre de direita: A vingança dos bastardos. Though the 2nd book is in Portuguese can be easily translated with Google Translator.
March 30, 2025
I came across Matthew Soules in a YouTube interview. I've always been fascinated by how build space can affect a person's psychology and how capitalism may or may not (but it does) influence that space.
Wow, what a introduction into that idea.
I'll admit many technical explorations by Soules went way over my head. I've never taken an architecture class or studied architecture in any meaningful way. And I'll admit that's a bit of a regret of mine.
Yet, despite the daunting language and technical ideas the book gets into, especially towards the end, I can confidently say I learned a lot about why new buildings look like that. And why homes are unaffordable. And why the rich keep getting so much richer. Yay.
Wow, what a introduction into that idea.
I'll admit many technical explorations by Soules went way over my head. I've never taken an architecture class or studied architecture in any meaningful way. And I'll admit that's a bit of a regret of mine.
Yet, despite the daunting language and technical ideas the book gets into, especially towards the end, I can confidently say I learned a lot about why new buildings look like that. And why homes are unaffordable. And why the rich keep getting so much richer. Yay.
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April 17, 2022Love the premise of this book: if finance capitalism has accelerated to the point that buildings are instruments of the global finance industry more so than places to live and work, what is that doing to their form and design? Soules has some fascinating insights in here, linking worldwide design decisions to the capitalist incentives that drive them. I found it partly highly readable narrative, partly painfully academic/philosophic; overall worth reading but definitely skimmed a bit when the language got too abstract.
August 26, 2021
Provides a convincing argument that architecture has merged with finance capitalism to transform the movement of money, the concentration of wealth, and the physical aesthetics of a city. Spends a lot of time delving into neoliberal economics and one of its best case examples: "housing". Lots of ideas that can serve as starting points for departures. Obviously a highly theoretical book but I found the writing style and language enjoyable while not necessarily being light reading.
February 27, 2022
Don't be fooled by the Introduction chapter, and keep on reading. This book is great, but the first pages are heavy to read. However, subsequent chapters dive right into the subject, and they are not interrupted too much by the "finance capitalism". You won't see the buildings, or more specifically new construction projects the same as before after you finish this book.
January 2, 2024
Very helpful as an introduction to finance capitalism and its role in our current lack of affordable housing / prevalence of luxury housing. Images included to demonstrate points too so it is a quick read. I appreciated that each chapter followed a similar outline with examples towards the end. Overall very interesting and explains topics in clear language.
November 15, 2021
Required reading for all vancouverites.
January 13, 2022
really great analysis of the ways financial capitalism are affecting the built environment, and how certain design paradigms play into it. Also some great surprising analysis at the end.
February 20, 2022
I really enjoyed the topic. Some of the writing was a little dense at times making it a little difficult to follow along at times.
June 1, 2023
Leaving my body behind in the worst way possible
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December 24, 2023good stuff
March 3, 2025
If a book about cities makes sweeping accusations about land-use, prices and affordability, maybe zoning should get more than three brief and unrelated mentions.
November 5, 2025
3.5 stars, strong start but the last section trying to tie in Koolhaas theory and AI felt extremely underdeveloped and tacked-on.
July 29, 2025
I wasn’t expecting a literature review but in a nutshell, that’s what the book is. It was still interesting to read but a bit dry in places as there was a lot of information in the book. I read this after watching the YouTube video about thin skyscrapers by TheB1M who recommended the book.
January 12, 2022
Interesting topic. Also taught me about a few buildings I never heard about. The broad description of how modern day finance Capital works is much needed. But sometimes I found the book slightly repetitive, and somewhat lacking in scope and ambition. I simply wanted more.
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