Available in English for the first time, Architecture of Defeat brings together essays written by Kengo Kuma in the aftermath of disasters such as the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City on 9/11 and the earthquake and tsunami that obliterated much of the built landscape on Japan's northern shore in 2011. Asking if we have been building in a manner that is too arrogant, Kuma examines architecture's relationship to contemporary politics, economics, consumerism, and technology, as well as its vital ties to society. Beautifully designed and illustrated, this is a fascinating insight into the thinking of one of the world's leading architects.