Infamous for its bloated size, architectural pastiche, and its association with the Great Recession-era, the McMansion is one of the most universally recognized symbols of American excess. However, far from being a solely American phenomenon, the McMansion has since been replicated all over the world, from the UK to Oman, Serbia to China. 

But what really is a McMansion and how did these bad manors come about in the first place? After eight years of studying the phenomenon through the blog McMansion Hell the architecture critic Kate Wagner is ready to present her findings. 

What seemed like an overnight fad of the post-Reagan years, it turns out, has its cultural roots in the American conception of what homes are and should do for us, made possible - but by no means inevitable - by economic and technological developments along the way.