Architects with Attitudes – Archetypes for a Regenerative World

Architects with Attitudes vividly illustrates how, as a designer, you can work with rebellious attitudes in a sustainable world: with abundance rather than scarcity, with stories rather than spreadsheets, with courage rather than dogma. From thrifter to banker, from bricoleur to alchemist: every attitude is a new dance between people and materials.

• Ten architectural approaches that contribute to the transition towards a regenerative society
• Concrete and inspiring examples for both student and practising architects, as well as the wider public
• Presents ten contrasting archetypes (including the miser, the banker, the forester and the bricoleur) which, taken together, form a comprehensive palette of design attitudes

Firsthand insights by architects Peter van Assche, Gerjan Streng and Laura van Santen are brought to life through the photography of Luuk Kramer. With sharp analyses, unexpected visual narratives and humorous anecdotes, this publication outlines a new design language for the future. Not a manual, but an invitation to tinker, to think outside the box and to start the game afresh.

The authors (Peter van Assche of SLA, Gerjan Streng of Bright and Laura van Santen of la-di-da) are practising architects. From 2019 to 2025, they led the Architecture and Circular Thinking research group at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture. All the essays are richly illustrated with photo essays by photographer Luuk Kramer.