Dirty Old River brings together twelve essays penned by Tom Emerson over the past two decades. Written on very different occasions as contributions to books or articles in magazines, they explore a wide range of topics through the lens of architecture. The book's title is borrowed from the British rock band The Kinks' cult song "Waterloo Sunset" to symbolize a journey through the interweaving of culture, imagination, and the built environment.

Naturally, Emerson writes about architecture: how it is designed, drawn, and built. Yet he also turns his attention to other, wider fields, from the transformation of materials to the nuances of human creativity, the explosive early works of his celebrated fellow architect Frank O. Gehry, and the intimate craftsmanship behind the literary spaces of French writer Georges Perec.

Emerson's unique approach to writing is often inspired by sideways glances and disciplines beyond architecture. He offers a new perspective on how things are made, why they take shape the way that they do, and what these processes reveal about humanity.