Conceptual proposalConceptual proposal
Reclaiming the Al-Cazaba
Andalusia, Spain · Documented 2025
A conceptual proposal to revitalise a layered Islamic fortress complex as a hub for interfaith and cultural exchange.
Layer 10 of 10 · The Ten Contextual Layers
Architectural
What has been built before — typologies, styles and precedents.
In this section1 · Philosophy
Definition
The architectural layer concerns the discipline’s own knowledge: typologies, styles and precedents (Reza 2025). It asks how earlier buildings solved comparable problems, and how their lessons can be carried forward without imitation.
The founder’s 2023 essay gives an example: the transitional semi-open spaces with which earlier buildings mitigated a hot, humid climate can be reinterpreted through sun-shading louvres, jalis and buffers (Reza 2023c). The 2025 essay cites the Sultanate mosque in Bengal, with its curved cornice derived from bamboo construction, as an example of successful synthesis between imported typologies and local building traditions (Reza 2025).
Key research questions
- 01 Which building types and precedents are relevant to this site?
- 02 What did earlier builders here understand that contemporary practice has forgotten?
- 03 How can a precedent be reinterpreted rather than replicated?
- 04 How will the building adapt to uses and conditions not yet foreseen?
Editorial summary Awaiting the founder’s approval Questions proposed by the editors
Analytical diagram
Editorial diagram Architectural in relation
- 01 Social
- 04 Political
- 05 Economic
- 07 Geographical
- 10 Architectural
Interpretation Relations proposed by the editors
- 03 Historical
Precedent carries knowledge forward; hybrid forms record encounters between building traditions. Example drawn from Reza 2025.
- 06 Ecological
Climate shapes form: semi-open transitional spaces, louvres and jalis temper heat and humidity. Example drawn from Reza 2023c.
- 08 Scientific
Material properties set the limits and possibilities of form, from terracotta to contemporary engineering. Example drawn from Reza 2025.
- 02 Cultural
Beliefs and rituals inform spatial organisation; in one thesis, non-dualism shaped interwoven courts. Example drawn from Reza and Nitu 2025.
- 09 Urban
Every building becomes part of an existing fabric; typology mediates between the building and the city. Example drawn from Reza and Nitu 2025.
Relevant publications
- 2025 New Contextualism: Architecture and Urbanism for People, Place, and JusticeSource ↗
Mohammad Habib Reza, Upama Das Nitu Context BD
- 2025 New Contextualism: An architectural philosophy for deltaic BangladeshSource ↗
Mohammad Habib Reza The Daily Star
- 2023 New contextualism: A path to a sustainable and equitable futureSource ↗
Mohammad Habib Reza The Business Standard
- 2023 Possibilities and Challenges of the New Contextual ApproachSource ↗
Md Samiur Rahman Bhuiyan Workshop ‘Exploring New Contextualism: An Approach to Architecture and Urban Design’
- 2021 Cultural continuity in the Sultanate Bengal: Adjacent ponds of the mosque as a traditional phenomenonSource ↗
Mohammad Habib Reza Esempi di Architettura
- 2018 Re-Imagining Bengal: Architecture, Built Environment and Cultural Heritage
I. Ahmed, Mohammad Habib Reza (eds) Copal Publishing Group
- 2018 Rethinking the Post-Gupta Bengal: Settlement and architecture
Mohammad Habib Reza Re-Imagining Bengal: Architecture, Built Environment and Cultural Heritage
- 2017 Evaluating morphological changes of household environment: A case study of migration in Mohakhali, Dhaka, BangladeshSource ↗
Nandini Awal, Mohammad Habib Reza WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment
- 2014 Bahla: Harat al-Aqr, documentation and heritage management planSource ↗
S. Bandyopadhyay, G. Quattrone, M. F. Goffriller et al. Ministry of Heritage and Culture
- 2008 Bengal Gupta Viharas: Did such a Phenomenon Exist?Source ↗
Mohammad Habib Reza The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences: Annual Review
Related projects
Ongoing researchTeaching and thesis supervision
The tenfold reading in the design studio
BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh · Documented 2023
The use of a ten-layer reading of context in design and thesis studios at BRAC University, from which most documented applications of the approach have emerged.
Sources
New Contextualism
- 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 2025Reza, Mohammad Habib. 2025. “New Contextualism: An architectural philosophy for deltaic Bangladesh.” The Daily Star, April 23, 2025. https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/focus/news/new-contextualism-architectural-philosophy-deltaic-bangladesh-3878456. 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