Frequently Asked Questions

An approach to architecture and urban design that reads a place through ten overlapping layers, from the social and ecological to the urban and architectural, and designs for the future on the basis of its past. Its founder describes it as ‘a forward-thinking philosophy that advocates for creating built environments informed by accurate predictions of the future, deeply rooted in the past and encompassing a holistic understanding of the context’ (Reza 2023c). See Definition and Scope.

Mohammad Habib Reza, an architect, architectural historian and Associate Professor at the School of Architecture and Design, BRAC University, Dhaka. Reports of its first public workshop describe the philosophy as ‘coined by Mohammad Habib Reza’ (BRAC University 2023). See Founder and Intellectual Origins.

No. In the founder’s account it ‘emerged not as a prescriptive style, but as a critical framework’ (Reza 2025), and the September 2025 essay describes it as ‘process-based rather than style-based’ (Reza and Nitu 2025).

Social, cultural, historical, political, economic, ecological, geographical, scientific, urban and architectural, as listed on this platform. The founder’s essays list them in a different order, and the September 2025 essay’s ‘10-layer lens’ includes a spiritual layer in place of the political (Reza 2025; Reza and Nitu 2025). See The Ten Contextual Layers.

So far mainly in academic design proposals: undergraduate theses, studio projects and competition entries, most of them made at BRAC University. No built work made with the approach has yet been documented on this platform. See All Projects.

No. It acknowledges the contextualism of the 1960s and 1970s but argues that it ‘often stopped at the surface’ (Reza and Nitu 2025). The phrase ‘new contextualism’ has also been used independently by other authors, for example in urban planning (Lejano and Kan 2015). See Relationship to Other Theories.

A book dedicated to the philosophy was announced in 2023 (Reza 2023c), and a guide for students, co-edited with the founder, is listed as in progress (BRAC University n.d.b). Neither had been published when this page was last updated, as far as the editors are aware. The principal texts so far are three essays; see Publications.

There is no membership. This platform is not a membership organisation and charges no fees. You can take part by proposing work for the archive, responding to it, or attending events; see Movement and Community. A governance structure of five bodies, including a student-led NC Student Nexus, has been proposed, but none of them has yet been constituted; see About the Platform.

Because the statement of the philosophy, the founder’s profile and the platform’s branding are awaiting the founder’s approval. Until then, every page carries a notice and the site is kept out of search engines. See Editorial Standards.

No. They are abstract drawings made for this platform, labelled as such. Photographs and drawings of projects will be added only with the permission of their authors.

Cite the founder’s published texts for the ideas, and use the record pages of the archive, which give each citation in Chicago, APA, BibTeX and RIS formats. See Citation Tools.

The platform is edited and maintained by its editorial team, whose members will be named on the Editorial Team page once confirmed. How its content is checked and approved is set out in the Editorial Standards.