New Contextualism
New Contextualism

Architecture. Context. Relationships.

4.6 Research and Publications

Further Reading

A reading list on the ideas with which New Contextualism is in conversation, arranged by theme by the editors.

In this section4 · Research and Publications

Editorial summary Awaiting the founder’s approval

Updated 31 October 2026

The works below are those cited in the texts of New Contextualism, with a few related works chosen by the editors. They are arranged by the themes discussed under Relationship to Other Theories. Full references are listed at the end of the page.

The texts of New Contextualism

Begin with the three essays in which the approach is set out: the founder’s essays of 2023 and April 2025 (Reza 2023c; Reza 2025), and the essay of September 2025 by the founder and Upama Das Nitu (Reza and Nitu 2025).

Contextualism and its critics

  • Colin Rowe and Fred Koetter on the city as collage, the classic statement of contextualist urban design (Rowe and Koetter 1978).
  • Robert Venturi on complexity and contradiction, and Charles Jencks on the language of Post-Modern architecture, both named by the founder (Venturi 1966; Jencks 1977).
  • Esin Komez Daglioglu’s survey of the ‘context debate’ (Komez Daglioglu 2015).

Critical regionalism

  • Kenneth Frampton’s six points for an architecture of resistance, cited in the September 2025 essay (Frampton 1983).

Place and the city

  • Kevin Lynch on the image of the city, and Edward Relph on place and placelessness, both cited in the September 2025 essay (Lynch 1960; Relph 1976).
  • Christian Norberg-Schulz on the spirit of place (Norberg-Schulz 1980).
  • Jane Jacobs and Jan Gehl on the life of cities and cities for people, both named by the founder (Jacobs 1961; Gehl 2010).
  • Christopher Alexander and colleagues on a pattern language (Alexander et al. 1977).

Justice and sustainability

Sources

New Contextualism

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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

Works cited in the texts of New Contextualism

  1. Frampton 1983Frampton, Kenneth. 1983. “Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance.” In The Anti-Aesthetic: Essays on Postmodern Culture, edited by Hal Foster, 16–30. Port Townsend, WA: Bay Press. Record
  2. Gehl 2010Gehl, Jan. 2010. Cities for People. Washington, DC: Island Press. Record
  3. Jacobs 1961Jacobs, Jane. 1961. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House. Record
  4. Lynch 1960Lynch, Kevin. 1960. The Image of the City. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Record
  5. Relph 1976Relph, Edward. 1976. Place and Placelessness. London: Pion. Record

Further reading (editorial selection)

  1. Alexander et al. 1977Alexander, Christopher, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein. 1977. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. New York: Oxford University Press. Record
  2. Jencks 1977Jencks, Charles. 1977. The Language of Post-Modern Architecture. London: Academy Editions. Record
  3. Komez Daglioglu 2015Komez Daglioglu, Esin. 2015. “The Context Debate: An Archaeology.” Architectural Theory Review 20 (2): 266–279. https://doi.org/10.1080/13264826.2016.1170058. Record
  4. Lefebvre 1968Lefebvre, Henri. 1968. Le Droit à la ville. Paris: Anthropos. Record
  5. Norberg-Schulz 1980Norberg-Schulz, Christian. 1980. Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture. New York: Rizzoli. Record
  6. Rowe and Koetter 1978Rowe, Colin, and Fred Koetter. 1978. Collage City. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Record
  7. United Nations General Assembly 2015United Nations General Assembly. 2015. “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” Resolution A/RES/70/1, October 21, 2015. https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda. Record
  8. Venturi 1966Venturi, Robert. 1966. Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture. New York: Museum of Modern Art. Record

Search the platform