Layer 06 of 10 · The Ten Contextual Layers
What a place depends on — climate, terrain, living systems and resources.
The ecological layer concerns the living systems a place depends on: climate, topography, biodiversity and resources (Reza 2025). In the deltaic setting from which New Contextualism emerged, it begins with water: monsoon rain, rivers and canals, and the settlement patterns they have shaped.
New Contextualist writing criticises architecture that ‘treats the environment as a backdrop rather than a lifeblood’, citing paved-over wetlands, urban heat islands and the loss of Dhaka’s river and canals to encroachment (Reza and Nitu 2025). Its later formulation, New Contextualism 2.0, adds nature-inspired design, a deeper integration of sustainability and an emphasis on proactive resilience to sea-level rise and storms (Reza 2025).
Key research questions
Editorial summary Awaiting the founder’s approval Questions proposed by the editors
Editorial diagram Interpretation Relations proposed by the editors
The fate of rivers, canals and wetlands is decided as much by governance as by nature. Example drawn from Reza and Nitu 2025.
Ecosystems are a source of technical knowledge: mangroves dissipate wave energy, termite mounds cool passively. Example drawn from Reza 2025.
Climate, topography and water systems set the conditions of settlement, above all in a delta.
Urbanisation transforms ecological systems: paved wetlands flood, heat islands intensify, canals are lost to encroachment. Example drawn from Reza and Nitu 2025.
Climate shapes form: semi-open transitional spaces, louvres and jalis temper heat and humidity. Example drawn from Reza 2023c.
Mohammad Habib Reza The Daily Star
Mohammad Habib Reza, Upama Das Nitu Context BD
Mohammad Habib Reza The Daily Star
Mohammad Habib Reza The Business Standard
Md Samiur Rahman Bhuiyan Workshop ‘Exploring New Contextualism: An Approach to Architecture and Urban Design’
Mohammad Habib Reza Esempi di Architettura
S. Bandyopadhyay, G. Quattrone, M. F. Goffriller et al. Ministry of Heritage and Culture
Conceptual proposalUndergraduate thesis
Kallyanpur canal, Dhaka, Bangladesh · Documented 2025
Frames a neglected urban canal as a civic spine, combining flood management, community access and boat transit within a transit-oriented development.
Conceptual proposalAcademic design proposal
Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh · Documented 2025
Envisions a traditional rural settlement celebrated for its Alpana art as a sustainable, community-managed tourism destination.
Ongoing researchResearch programme
BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh · Documented 2024
The further development of the approach at BRAC University, with greater emphasis on sustainability frameworks, nature-inspired design and proactive resilience.
Ongoing researchTeaching and thesis supervision
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.
