Within a context of social and political issues since the late 1960s, when the Modern Movement began to be challenged, Diane Ghirardo examines a broad range of "megaprojects" as paradigms of both public and private space. Ranging widely, the author covers everything from the internationally expansive Disney empire to the IBA in Berlin, with projects ranging from new structures to rehabilitation and residents' self-build. She moves beyond the strict, formal analysis of architecture, offering a much welcomed critique of her subject that is unusually serious and thoughtful.