Skip to content
Store Hours: 10am to 4pm, Tuesdays and Thursday-Sunday
The Gamble House Bookstore
(0) Cart
The Gamble House Bookstore
Search
  • Log in
  • Register
Cart (0)
  • Apparel & Accessories +Toggle menu
    • Bags
    • Clothing
    • Jewelry
    • Scarves
    • Small Accessories
    • Umbrellas
  • Books & DVDs +Toggle menu
    • Book Accessories
    • Architects & Designers
    • Architecture
    • Art, Design & Photography
    • Arts & Crafts Movement
    • Collector's Shelf
    • Dust Jacket Journeys
    • Fashion & Textiles
    • Furniture & Woodworking
    • Gamble House/Greene & Greene
    • Gardening & Nature
    • Glass & Lighting
    • Local (Authors - Architecture - History - Travel)
    • Pottery & Tiles
    • Reading the 1900's
    • Silver, Metalwork & Jewelry
  • Games, Puzzles & Stationery +Toggle menu
    • Boxed Notes
    • Calendars
    • Coloring Books
    • Games & Puzzles
    • Gift Wrap
    • Notebooks & Journals
    • Paper Crafts
    • Stickers & Washi Tape
  • Home & Garden +Toggle menu
    • Bath &. Body
    • Clocks
    • Copper
    • Decorative Accents
    • Embroidery Kits
    • Ikebana & Gardens
    • Japanese Folk Art
    • Kitchen & Dining
    • Lamps
    • Ornaments
    • Pet
    • Pottery
    • Prints
    • Tiles
  • Kids +Toggle menu
    • Ages 0-3
    • Ages 4-8
    • 3rd Grade Recommended Reading
    • Ages 9-12
  • Merch
  • Back to the Future
  • On Sale
  • Bookshop
  • Register
  • Log in

Barbarian Architecture

$34.95
Minus Plus
 
 
This item is a recurring or deferred purchase. By continuing, I agree to the cancellation policy and authorize you to charge my payment method at the prices, frequency and dates listed on this page until my order is fulfilled or I cancel, if permitted.

A richly visual architectural history and theory of modernity that reexamines Thorstein Veblen’s classic text The Theory of the Leisure Class through the lens of Chicago in the 1890s.

An important critic of modern culture, American economist Thorstein Veblen 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 wide range of arguments about modern architecture, but never has he attracted a comprehensive and critical treatment from the viewpoint of architectural history. In Barbarian Architecture, Joanna Merwood-Salisbury corrects this omission by reexamining Veblen’s famous book as an original theory of modernity and situating it in a particular place and time—Chicago in the 1890s.

Merwood-Salisbury takes her title from Veblen’s use of the term “barbarian,” which refers to his belief that Gilded Age American society was a last remnant of a barbarian state of greed and acquisitiveness. Taking an interdisciplinary approach that draws on biography, intellectual history, and historiography, she explores Veblen’s position in relation to debates about industrial reform and aesthetics in Chicago during the period 1890–1906. Bolstered by a strong visual narrative made possible by several of Chicago’s 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. Her publications include Design for the Crowd, After Taste, coedited with Kent Kleinman and Lois Weinthal, and Chicago 1890.
Share
  • Facebook Share on Facebook
  • Twitter Share on Twitter
  • Pinterest Pin the main image
Share
  • Facebook Share on Facebook
  • Twitter Share on Twitter
  • Pinterest Pin the main image
Current Hours of Operation 10am to 4pm Tuesdays & Thursday-Sunday
626-449-4178
bookstore@gamblehouse.org
4 Westmoreland Place Pasadena, CA 91103
  • SEARCH
Signup for our newsletter
© 2025 The Gamble House Bookstore. Powered by Shopify
American Express Apple Pay Diners Club Discover Google Pay Mastercard Shop Pay Visa