5.6 Movement and Community
Early Adopters and Applications
Where New Contextualism is documented as being taught and used, by institution, practice, course and project.
In this section5 · Movement and Community
The evidence of use documented so far comes from teaching at one university: studios, theses and competition entries by students and teachers of BRAC University. It is listed here as published.
Institutions and Programmes
New Contextualism has been ‘cultivated at BRAC University, where it has been embraced by students and faculty alike’ (Reza 2023c), and the founder has conducted ‘numerous undergraduate thesis studios on this philosophy’ there (Reza and Nitu 2025). The university’s Department of Architecture hosted the workshops of 2023 and 2024 (BRAC University 2023; Context BD 2024a).
No use of New Contextualism at another institution or in another programme has yet been documented. Institutions that teach or test the approach are invited to propose documentation through Community Submissions.
Practitioners and Studios
The online symposium of 2025, ‘Reflections on New Contextualism: Voices from Practice and Academia’, included speakers working in architectural practice (Context BD 2025). Their participation is not, by itself, evidence that their practices use the approach.
No architectural or urban design practice has yet been documented as applying New Contextualism to a built or commissioned project.
Courses Using New Contextualism
The approach is documented in the founder’s design studios, where students undertake ‘a tenfold overlapping study of the broader context’ (Reza 2023c), and in the thesis studio (Studio X) at BRAC University, where several theses describe themselves as founded on it or inspired by it (Arch-Bangla 2024a; Arch-Bangla 2024d). It is also documented in the fourth-year housing studio ARC402 in 2024, where a group project mentored by the founder was framed by ‘the philosophy of “New Contextualism”’ (Arch-Bangla 2025a).
No course or syllabus named after New Contextualism has been found.
Documented Use Cases
The projects documented on this platform are listed under All Projects. Further student work that states it follows or is inspired by New Contextualism, published elsewhere, is listed below.
- 2025 Remarkable NEXUS CITYSCAPE by BRACU You Need to KnowSource ↗
Arch-Bangla Arch-Bangla
- 2024 Crafting a Resilient Mru Settlement and Sustainable Tourism CoexistenceSource ↗
Arch-Bangla Arch-Bangla
- 2024 Bridging the Gap: Innovation that reconnects.Source ↗
Fatima Binte Zahid BRACU Express
- 2024 The Value of NullSource ↗
Context BD Context BD
- 2024 Goyna Gram: Reviving an Artisan CommunitySource ↗
Arch-Bangla Arch-Bangla
- 2024 Ahsania Mission Children City, JessoreSource ↗
Arch-Bangla Arch-Bangla
- 2023 Reviving Ram Mala Complex, ComillaSource ↗
Arch-Bangla Arch-Bangla
- 2023 Redevelopment of RDA Market AreaSource ↗
Arch-Bangla Arch-Bangla
- 2023 Reimagined Jamuna Future Park as a Civic Space | BRACUSource ↗
Context BD Context BD
Sources
New Contextualism
- BRAC University 2023BRAC University. 2023. “Daylong workshop and lecture sessions held on ‘Exploring New Contextualism: An Approach to Architecture and Urban Design’.” BRAC University News, June 21, 2023. https://www.bracu.ac.bd/news/daylong-workshop-and-lecture-sessions-held-exploring-new-contextualism-approach-architecture. Record
- Reza 2023cReza, Mohammad Habib. 2023c. “New contextualism: A path to a sustainable and equitable future.” The Business Standard, December 19, 2023. https://www.tbsnews.net/features/habitat/new-contextualism-path-sustainable-and-equitable-future-760366. Record
- Reza and Nitu 2025Reza, Mohammad Habib, and Upama Das Nitu. 2025. “New Contextualism: Architecture and Urbanism for People, Place, and Justice.” Context BD, September 16, 2025. https://contextbd.com/new-contextualism-architecture-and-urbanism-for-people-place-and-justice/. Record
Documentary sources
- Arch-Bangla 2024aArch-Bangla. 2024a. “Ahsania Mission Children City, Jessore.” Arch-Bangla, January 12, 2024. https://arch-bangla.com/ahsania-mission-children-city-jessore/. Record
- Arch-Bangla 2024dArch-Bangla. 2024d. “Crafting a Resilient Mru Settlement and Sustainable Tourism Coexistence.” Arch-Bangla, November 25, 2024. https://arch-bangla.com/crafting-a-resilient-mru-settlement-and-sustainable-tourism-coexistence/. Record
- Arch-Bangla 2025aArch-Bangla. 2025a. “Remarkable NEXUS CITYSCAPE by BRACU You Need to Know.” Arch-Bangla, January 17, 2025. https://arch-bangla.com/remarkable-nexus-cityscape-by-bracu-you-need-to-know/. Record
- Context BD 2024aContext BD. 2024a. “Exploring New Contextualism 2.0: An Approach to Architecture and Urban Design.” Context BD (events). Accessed October 19, 2026. https://contextbd.com/events/event/exploring-new-contextualism-2-0-an-approach-to-architecture-and-urban-design/. Record
- Context BD 2025Context BD. 2025. “Reflections on New Contextualism: Voices from Practice and Academia.” Context BD (events). Accessed October 19, 2026. https://contextbd.com/events/event/reflections-on-new-contextualism-voices-from-practice-and-academia/. Record