By the 1970s, everyone (including Leonid Brezhnev) had grown bored with the monotony and right angles of modernity. Architects, it turned out, were too. And then a miracle happened: architecture awakened. Some played with structure, others with form, others with materials, and still others with everything at once. As a result, the world became a new attraction—from Sydney to Oslo. Everyone rushed to see new buildings, and cities began competing with one another. It was then that architecture became the most fashionable of the arts, and soon the pursuit of WOW began. Architecture struggled to keep up in the race for success, having succumbed to the lure of recognition. But its relevance at the turn of the millennium was undeniable, and its diversity was boundless. Art historian and architectural critic Alexei Lepork, a research fellow at the State Hermitage Museum, will serve as a guide through the sparkling, intricately organized world of contemporary architecture. His engaging essays pose pertinent questions and leave the interested reader with room to search for answers. It seems there are no simple, straightforward solutions in this world.