This volume investigates the architectural trends and design innovations prevalent in residential construction during the year 1980. The editors of Architectural Record Magazine curate a selection of high-profile residential projects to demonstrate the evolution of modern living spaces. By analyzing these specific structures, the book provides a snapshot of the aesthetic and functional priorities that defined the late twentieth-century domestic landscape.

Architectural historians and design professionals frequently cite this volume as a primary source for understanding the stylistic shifts in late-modernist residential architecture. Experts highlight the text as a valuable archival record of the specific design vernacular that dominated the early 1980s.