The book is a systematic critique, sometimes acerbic, of some 21st century trends in architectural design, trends that have become assertively extreme (or indefensibly peculiar) in their approaches to form.

"This book arose from two observations: that building design in these first decades of the 21st century has come to accept and pursue some increasingly odd and disturbing trends; and that there seems to be insufficient architectural criticism that calls these trends to account. Its mission is to take up that neglected role with respect to some specific exemplars of these trends, with subjects coming primarily from the worlds of commercial and institutional architecture"--