Definition and Scope

The published texts define New Contextualism in several ways: as a philosophy, as a critical framework and as a method. They agree on its core, a reading of context far wider than the physical site, held together by a concern for the future and for justice.

What Is New Contextualism?

The founder’s first extended essay defines it in a single sentence:

‘New Contextualism is 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)

The same essay adds that the approach ‘emphasises equity and justice, promoting inclusive and diverse designs that benefit all community members’ (Reza 2023c). In 2025 the founder described it as ‘a critical framework—a way of thinking that advocates for a design process that is intrinsically forward-looking, yet profoundly anchored in an understanding of the past’, with ‘a commitment to equity and justice’ central to its ethos (Reza 2025).

The September 2025 essay puts the emphasis on method. New Contextualism is ‘a design philosophy that positions itself to ensure buildings are not isolated objects but catalysts for belonging, well-being, and resilience’, and what is new about it ‘lies not in style but in approach’ (Reza and Nitu 2025).

Why New Contextualism?

The texts present the approach as a response to the shortcomings of the paradigms that shaped the twentieth-century city. Modernism, the founder writes, ‘often arrived in contexts like ours as an external imposition’, while Postmodernism ‘swung towards irony and surface quotation’ (Reza 2025). Classic contextualism ‘often stopped at the surface’, and placemaking, though it ‘brought people back into the conversation’, remained limited to small-scale interventions (Reza and Nitu 2025).

The September 2025 essay also points to the present condition of cities: ‘multiple overlapping crises in the urban built environment’, including ecological fragility, social fragmentation and the cultural homogenisation by which ‘the “anywhere city” erases belonging’ (Reza and Nitu 2025). Its conclusion is that ‘in a world where too many buildings could be anywhere and thus belong nowhere, we need an approach that offers a way to create places rooted in culture, yet open to change’ (Reza and Nitu 2025).

Scope and Intellectual Contribution

New Contextualism is presented as a framework for architecture and urbanism alike: ‘a layered framework for architecture and urbanism integrating ecology, equity, memory, and belonging’ (Reza and Nitu 2025). It claims to operate across three ranges at once:

‘a replicable, layered framework capable of operating across time (past, present, future), scope (from ecology to culture), and scale (repeatable framework building to city).’ (Reza and Nitu 2025)

Its sources are interdisciplinary. The founder describes the approach as having been refined at BRAC University by ‘incorporating ideas from various disciplines, including anthropology, sociology and environmental science’ (Reza 2023c). The September 2025 essay describes it as ‘process-based rather than style-based, incorporating systems thinking, regenerative ethics, and participatory design’ (Reza and Nitu 2025).

Its proponents describe its contribution in two ways at once. It is offered as ‘a holistic context-agnostic framework where design engages principles and ten intertwined layers; only the answers change with place’ (Reza and Nitu 2025), and the founder’s 2025 biography positions it ‘as both a Global South contribution to architectural thought and a globally relevant method for resilient futures’ (Reza and Nitu 2025). How these claims have been received outside the circle of the approach’s proponents is discussed under Critical Perspectives and Open Questions.