Read–Plan–Process

READ: Investigating Context

Reading the site is the phase given ‘particular weight’. ‘Before form or function, it is necessary to understand the context’, and the ten-layer lens ‘offers a framework for that reading’ (Reza and Nitu 2025). The founder’s earlier formulation describes the same reading as ‘a tenfold overlapping study of the broader context’, one that examines a context’s past and developmental trends in order to identify future needs (Reza 2023c).

In the thesis on Panatirtha, the reading combined several layers. ‘Historical & spatial layers traced community paths across paddy fields and mapped memory routes connecting temple and settlement’, while social and cultural readings ‘revealed how pilgrimage and tourism could sustain the economy of the permanent community’ (Reza and Nitu 2025).

PLAN: Translating Findings into Strategy

In the published case studies, what is found in reading becomes the basis of strategy. In the Panatirtha thesis, the routes traced in the reading ‘became the skeleton of new circulation networks, ensuring the space did not feel alien but grounded in familiar movement’ (Reza and Nitu 2025). The Kallyanpur thesis ‘devised a strategic plan that could be replicated for canal revival elsewhere’, built on reintroducing navigability within a transit-oriented development (Reza and Nitu 2025).

PROCESS: Developing, Testing and Refining

The case studies also show strategies developed into design. In the Kallyanpur thesis, ‘a transit station was designed as the first point of interaction with the canal during daily commutes’, and ‘edge treatments were proposed to encourage frequent community engagement’ (Reza and Nitu 2025). The redevelopment proposal for Chawk Bazar led to ‘strategies focused on phased interventions, integrating livelihoods, adaptive reuse of historic buildings, and the introduction of contextually sensitive materials and forms’ (Reza 2025).