Book excerpt: After two decades which saw the construction industry flourish, has come a sudden period of instability, where architecture firms have been jettisoning employees at an unprecedented rate as building projects dry up. This edited volume brings together scholars, critics, and architects to discuss the present state of uncertainty in the practice and discipline of architecture. The chapters are organized into three main areas of inquiry: economics, practice, and technology. Within this larger framework, authors explore issues of security, ecological design, disaster architecture, the future of architectural practice, and the ethical obligations of the social practice of design.