Problem: Rectangle Shrinking
Part 1: Notations
$$$x$$$: A brick. $$$x_i$$$ denotes the part of $$$x$$$ belonging to the $$$i$$$-th floor. For example, if $$$x.u=1,\,x.d=2$$$, then $$$x_1.u=x_1.d=1$$$, $$$x_2.u=x_2.d=2$$$, and $$$x_1.l=x_2.l=x.l$$$, $$$x_1.r=x_2.r=x.r$$$.
$$$A_i,\,i=1,2$$$: The set of bricks whose $$$u=d=i$$$.
$$$B$$$: The set of bricks whose $$$u=1,\,d=2$$$.
$$$\texttt{Remove}$$$: Remove a brick $$$x$$$.
$$$\texttt{Shrink}$$$: Shrink a brick $$$x$$$ to another non-empty brick.
$$$\texttt{Keep}$$$: Keep a brick $$$x$$$ unchanged.
Note that in our solution we may operate on a part of brick. For example, for a brick $$$x \in B$$$, we may $$$\texttt{Keep}\,x_1$$$ while $$$\texttt{Remove}\,x_2$$$.
Part 2: Idea
I think $$$\texttt{Shrink}$$$ing $$$x \in B$$$ is troublesome. If you shrink $$$x_1$$$, you have to shrink $$$x_2$$$ in the same way, i.e., $$$x_1$$$ has to be aligned with $$$x_2$$$. So is there a solution that only performs $$$\texttt{Remove}$$$ and $$$\texttt{Keep}$$$ on every $$$x \in B$$$?