Framework Family and Related Concepts

New Contextualism (NC)

The foundational philosophy: ‘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). Its definition, origins, principles and layers are set out in the other pages of this section, beginning with Definition and Scope.

New Contextual Urbanism (NCU)

The published texts already extend New Contextualism to urbanism. The approach is described as ‘a layered framework for architecture and urbanism’ that operates at scales from ‘building to city’ (Reza and Nitu 2025), and its principle of equity commits design to protect ‘the “right to the city”’ (Reza and Nitu 2025). A 2026 author note describes the founder’s work on ‘deltaic urbanism’ (Reza 2026a). A similar-sounding term, ‘neo-contextual resilient urbanism’, is attributed in the report of the 2023 workshop to S M Kaikobad, one of its speakers, rather than to the founder (BRAC University 2023). See Urbanism and Urban Design.

New Contextual Heritage Management (NCHM)

The name appears in the title of an article by Reza and Rahman, ‘Re-Establishing the Sacredness of Somapura Mahavihara: A New Contextual Heritage Management of a Buddhist Sacred Land’ (Reza and Rahman 2026). Its abstract proposes ‘a New Contextualist framework’ for the site and argues for ‘an integrated management strategy that harmonizes conservation of tangible and intangible heritage, community participation, and sustainable tourism innovation’ (Reza and Rahman 2026). The abstract does not set out a general definition of the framework. See Heritage Management.

New Contextual Design Methodology (NCDM)

The published texts describe a design method without giving it this name: the ‘tenfold overlapping study’ taught in the founder’s studios (Reza 2023c), and the three phases with which ‘every project begins’, Read, Plan and Process (Reza and Nitu 2025). At the 2024 workshop Mohammad Zillur Rahman ‘elaborated on the methodology of implementing New Contextual theory into architectural and urban projects’ (Arch-Bangla 2024c). See Architectural Design and Read–Plan–Process.

Contextual Intelligence (CI)

The nearest published wording describes settlements ‘intelligently responsive to our specific ecological and social context’ (Reza 2025), and calls for ‘intelligently reinterpreting the past to inform new directions’ (Reza 2023c). See Contextual Intelligence.

Related Research Theories

The founder’s research on the history of Bengal is related to New Contextualism through his biography, not through a published argument linking the two. A 2026 author note places ‘the new contextualism framework’ alongside his work on ‘Bengal’s cultural history … and civilisational continuity’ (Reza 2026a).

• Syncretic Cultural History Theory (SCHT). The name has not been found in a published source. The founder’s essay of June 2026 calls for ‘what might be called a syncretic cultural history’, defined as ‘a method of reading layered civilisational formation’ (Reza 2026b).
• Ganga-Brahmaputra Civilization (GBC). The name has not been found in a published source. The same essay traces ‘a civilisational logic of its own: rooted in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta’ (Reza 2026b), and an essay of May 2026 describes ‘Bengal’s delta civilisation’ (Reza 2026a).
• SDG+. At the 2024 workshop, Md Samiur Rahman Bhuiyan suggested that the approach ‘could be termed SDG+ (Sustainable Development Goal Plus)’, for its alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (Arch-Bangla 2024c).

These are set out under Civilizational and Historical Research.