Gwendolyn Wright, professor of architecture at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, will discuss her new book, USA. This is the third in Reaktion Books’ new series, Modern Architectures in History, which examines the particular characteristics of some 25 different countries from Austria to Turkey. USA argues that American modern architecture was a distinctive and innovative phenomenon of its own, albeit hybrid and diverse, not simply an offshoot or misunderstanding of a European norm. Each chapter considers successive modernizations in the workplace, family life, and the public sphere, charting how architecture responded to these shifts –and vice versa. Women designers are included throughout, opening yet another aspect of modernity. Juxtaposing examples both familiar and lesser-known from all over the country, the book surveys 150 years from post-Civil War skyscrapers and suburbs like Riverside to Huff & Gooden’s Virginia Key Beach Museum in Miami and Pugh & Scarpa’s Colorado Court in Santa Monica. This history intentionally raises questions for the present, noting how American architects and clients have repeatedly engaged issues that concern us today, notably commercialism, popular media, industrialized mass-customization, and environmentalism. USA provides an insightful and challenging look at the ambitions and forms of modern architecture in the context of American culture.