Layer 05 of 10 · The Ten Contextual Layers
How a place sustains life — through work, exchange and affordability.
The economic layer concerns the ways a place sustains the people who depend on it: livelihoods, industries and affordability (Reza 2025). It reads the built environment as a field of work, exchange and value, from informal commerce in a historic market to the land values that decide who can remain.
The published case studies show the economic layer working through others. In the Panatirtha thesis, social and cultural readings revealed how pilgrimage and tourism could sustain the economy of the permanent community (Reza and Nitu 2025); the Chawk Bazar proposal integrated livelihoods into a strategy of phased intervention and adaptive reuse (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
Livelihoods and affordability decide who can remain in a place, and so whom it is for. Example drawn from Reza and Nitu 2025.
Patronage and regulation steer where investment flows and what gets built.
Heritage, craft and ritual can sustain local economies, as pilgrimage and community-based tourism show. Example drawn from Reza and Nitu 2025.
Land markets and infrastructure investment drive density, sprawl and the loss of shared space.
Mohammad Habib Reza, Athena Rahman Esempi di Architettura
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’
Conceptual proposalThesis and studio project
Chawk Bazar, Old Dhaka, Bangladesh · Documented 2023
Reimagines Old Dhaka’s historic Chawk Bazar as a layered spatial narrative, merging memory, commerce and community.
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.
