Contemporary thinkers from Hito Steyerl to Atelier Bow-Wow explore how architecture can adapt to--rather than replace--the existing built environment

This volume considers existing urban contexts as an opportunity to use the potential of place, and the creativity of inhabitants and users, the power of the social and urban fabric to respond to needs and urgent topics. Rewriting Architecture poses such questions as: what does architecture mean in times of scarcity; how to relate to heritage; how to respond to changing social demographics; how to go on building in an increasingly dense urban landscape? It thus explores the changing role of the contemporary architect who must take the existing world as a starting point for research.

Eleven "actions" make up the sections of the book, in the form of commands such as "Overlay," "Restart," "Copy," "Repurpose" and "Densify." These actions are then addressed by leading thinkers such as Hito Steyerl, Atelier Bow-Wow, Failed Architecture and others.