3.6 Projects
Studios, theses and teaching in which the approach has been applied, the setting in which most of its documented work was made.
New Contextualism has been developed for more than a decade in design studios at BRAC University, where the founder encourages students to undertake ‘a tenfold overlapping study of the broader context’ (Reza 2023c). The projects documented on this platform from that teaching are:
Conceptual proposalUndergraduate thesis
Panatirtha, Jadukata riverfront, Sunamganj, Bangladesh · 2023
Reimagines a riverside pilgrimage site, traditionally visited once a year for ritual bathing, as a civic landscape alive in daily life as well as in ritual moments.
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 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 proposalUndergraduate thesis
Jamuna Future Park, Dhaka, Bangladesh · 2022
Reimagines a large commercial complex as a civic hub, opening its spaces to pedestrian networks, green corridors and social programmes.
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.
Other student projects, published by Arch-Bangla, Context BD and BRACU Express, state that they follow or are inspired by New Contextualism. They are listed below as published, but have not yet been documented as projects on this platform.
Arch-Bangla Arch-Bangla
Arch-Bangla Arch-Bangla
Fatima Binte Zahid BRACU Express
Context BD Context BD
Arch-Bangla Arch-Bangla
Arch-Bangla Arch-Bangla
Arch-Bangla Arch-Bangla
Arch-Bangla Arch-Bangla
Context BD Context BD
