Incorporating Architects

How American Architecture Became a Practice of Empire

Aaron Cayer

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Hardback

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English

University of California Press
03 June 2025

History of architecture; Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000; Social & cultural history; Urban & municipal planning

By the end of the twentieth century, US architecture and engineering firms held more capital than entire countries, employed more people than were housed in most cities, and rented offices in more nations than comprised the UN. Within them, architects were designing not single buildings but urban systems, including the multinational infrastructures, legal codes, and financial mechanisms on which those systems came to depend. However, despite the extraordinary power of these architects, their histories remain shrouded in myth and concealed—by design.

This forensic analysis traces a history of architects at one such firm, AECOM, as they assembled their own multinational corporation and embedded themselves in the operations of American empire after World War II, shielding themselves from the instabilities of a postwar political economy. Incorporating Architects reveals how architects, through their businesses more than their drawings or buildings, modulated the political economy, gripped the reins of their profession, and produced the global injustices that define our neoliberal present.

By: Aaron Cayer
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 635g
ISBN: 9780520400863
ISBN 10: 0520400860
Pages: 364
Publication Date: 03 June 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Profession: Shattering Tradition 2. Firm: Corporate Conglomeration 3. Building: Enclosing Indeterminacy 4. Contract: Developing Architects 5. Portfolio: Valuing Practice 6. Vault: Keeping Secrets Conclusion Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

Aaron Cayer is Assistant Professor of Architecture at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Reviews for Incorporating Architects: How American Architecture Became a Practice of Empire

""Many books pose the question: What can architecture do that’s good? Not enough ask what architecture can do for evil. Historian Aaron Cayer’s book Incorporating Architects: How American Architecture Became a Practice of Empire does exactly that."" * The Architect's Newspaper *