In this much-anticipated  sequel to his critically acclaimed Makers of Modern Architecture (2007)
longtime New York Review of Books contributor Martin Filler—“probably the best all-round architecture critic currently working in the United States,” according to the architectural journalist David Cohn—offers another penetrating series of concise but authoritative studies on leading exponents of the building art from the late nineteenth to the early twenty-first century. Exemplifying his belief that an architect’s personality and character have a direct and profound bearing on this most public and social of art forms, Filler’s lively melding of biographical and aesthetic perspectives gives these accessible yet scrupulously researched interpretations a rare human immediacy.

From profiles of such universally admired masters as Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier to emerging figures including Michael Arad, creator of New York City’s National September 11 Memorial, and the international design collaborative Snøhetta, Filler’s shifting focus remains consistently trained on the enduring values of great architecture. His panoramic vision encompasses the historically inspired Gilded Age urbanism of the celebrated New York bon vivant Stanford White as well as the expressive collages of ancient and modern elements orchestrated by the reclusive Venetian intellectual Carlo Scarpa. The increasing role of women in architecture is given special emphasis in this new collection, from the pioneering work in 1920s Germany of Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, inventor of the standardized modern kitchen, to such innovative contemporary practitioners as Elizabeth Diller, Kazuyo Sejima, and Billie Tsien.

在这本备受期待的续集中，他对广受好评的《现代建筑的创造者》（2007年）进行了续写。

纽约书评》的长期撰稿人马丁-菲勒（Martin Filler）--据建筑记者大卫-科恩（David Cohn）称，他可能是目前在美国工作的最全面的建筑评论家--对19世纪末至21世纪初建筑艺术的主要表现者进行了另一系列简明而权威的研究。菲勒认为，建筑师的个性和性格对这种最公开、最社会化的艺术形式有着直接而深刻的影响，他将传记和美学观点生动地融合在一起，使这些易懂而又经过严格研究的解释具有罕见的人性直接性。

从弗兰克-劳埃德-赖特和勒-柯布西耶这样受到普遍推崇的大师的简介，到包括纽约市国家九一一纪念馆的创建者迈克尔-阿拉德和国际设计合作组织Snøhetta在内的新兴人物，菲勒不断变化的焦点始终是对伟大建筑的持久价值的训练。他的全景视野包含了历史上著名的纽约生活家斯坦福-怀特的镀金时代城市主义，以及隐居的威尼斯知识分子卡罗-斯卡帕精心策划的古代和现代元素的表现力拼贴。在这个新的系列中，女性在建筑中日益增长的作用得到了特别强调，从1920年代德国的Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky（标准化现代厨房的发明者）的开创性工作，到Elizabeth Diller、Kazuyo Sejima和Billie Tsien等当代创新实践者。