Generating Concepts In General
There are two sides of architecture, architecture as construction with purpose (a building), and the making of architecture (designing).
These two aspects of architecture are interrelated to one another in terms of concept, context, and content.
When you are designing a building in a place that has a rich context, the concept of the building design can be derived from the site context.
For example, converting an old heritage into a cafe with a local characteristic.
Heritage, the context, in this case, becomes the concept of the architecture.
When you are designing a building in empty places or a place that does not has a significant context, you may generate your concept of building design out of the content of a subject that can add new value to the place.
For example, designing a meaningful highway across the valley in between mountains, a concept a visual landmark that has nothing immediately from the site is conceived, and in this case, the landmark concept is contextualized and imposed on the place.
The content of the study, in this case, is the language of a visual landmark, and not the site.
When you derive a concept out of the context of a place, you conceptualize a context. The idea of a place does not change much.
When you come out with a concept out of content, and you impose it to a place without a significant context, you are contextualizing your concept to the place, and the idea of a place changes.