An important critic of modern culture, American economist Thorstein Veblen (1857–1929) is best known for the concept of “conspicuous consumption,” the ostentatious and wasteful display of goods in the service of social status—a term he coined in his 1899 classic The Theory of the Leisure Class. In the field of architectural history, scholars have employed Veblen in support of a range of arguments about modern architecture, but he has never attracted a comprehensive treatment from the viewpoint of architectural history. This project corrects this omission by reexamining Veblen’s famous book as an original theory of modernity situated it in a particular place and time—Chicago in the 1890s. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the project explores Veblen’s position in relation to contemporary debates about industrial reform and aesthetics. Supported by images drawn from historic photographic collections, Barbarian Architecture makes a compelling and original argument for the influence of Veblen’s home city on his work and ideas.

Joanna Merwood-Salisbury is professor of architecture at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She has held academic positions at Parsons School of Design, Bard College, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Merwood-Salisbury received her PhD from Princeton University and her MArch from McGill University. Her research focuses on nineteenth-century architecture and urbanism in the United States, with a special emphasis on the Chicago School of Architecture and issues of race and labor. Her publications include Design for the Crowd: Patriotism and Protest in Union Square (University of Chicago Press, 2019); After Taste: Expanded Practice in Interior Design, coedited with Kent Kleinman and Lois Weinthal (Princeton Architectural Press, 2012); and Chicago 1890: The Skyscraper and the Modern City (University of Chicago Press, 2009). Her writing has appeared in the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, AA Files, Grey Room, Technology and Culture, Design Issues, Lotus International, and many other venues.