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Anarchitects were conceptual entities created by the Celestis using flux technology (PROSE: The Book of the War) and used as weapons by the enemy during an assault on Gallifrey.
The anarchitects acted like computer viruses that were able to inhabit architecture and rewrite it, allowing them to rebuild entire cities at will. This technology was the same used by the early TARDIS models and were within the scope of the Gallifreyans, but were never considered as a weapon of war. (PROSE: Alien Bodies) One anarchitect was capable of "possessing" a single structure, regardless of size.
However, the "rewriting" of physical structures was achieved by manipulating the meaning of these structures rather than the matter. Like other conceptual entities such as the shifts, the anarchitects lacked physical form and only existed in the mind of the beholder, which they would manipulate to warp that person's understanding of their relationship to their world-environment.
Bridges can disappear underfoot, simple corridors can become impenetrable labyrinths, while spaces can become oppressively small or horrifyingly large without warning. And yet the anarchitects achieve this without actually changing the substance of the building at all.
As a result, because they were purely non-physical, anarchitects could not be combatted by casts. Time-aware posthuman species attributed the effects of anarchitects to nanites.
A flaw in the early anarchitect program was a well-developed sense of self which could lead to conflict with the anarchitect's user. This flaw particularly pronounced in the gargoyles, a previous iteration of the technology. (PROSE: The Book of the War)
Instances
Homunculette faced an anarchitect in the ruins of London after the 22nd century Dalek invasion. He escaped by jumping into the River Thames. (PROSE: Alien Bodies)
The Remote had anarchitect-derived weaponry in their weaponstores, but they rarely used it on the battlefield. Some Remote left a "ship-killer anarchitect" behind as they left the Venue Accords, but it remained dormant. (PROSE: The Book of the War)
According to a rumour, Lord Ruthventracolixabaxil starved to death in his own TARDIS when an anarchitect hijacked it and turned the central corridor into an endless Möbius loop. (PROSE: Alien Bodies) In reality, he had been consumed by Lolita. (AUDIO: The Shadow Play)
Some theorists suggested that anarchitect techniques were used in the creation of the City of the Saved. (PROSE: The Book of the War)