The German journalist was one of the few Westerners  to permanently report from Central Asia. Her architectural guide to the city of Almaty is a kind of farewell after 18 years in a region whose importance, she says, is still not understood. 

Text: Björn Rosen

Photo: Edda Schlager in front of a Soviet-era mosaic in Almaty. The German ­journalist reported from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Two research trips also took her to Afghanistan. © Amina Shyryntai

An incredible amount has changed in Kazakhstan since 2005 when Edda Schlager first visited Almaty, the former capital and still the country’s largest city. ‘First and foremost, digitalisation,’ she says. ‘In the beginning I still had to use a modem; now there’s reliable internet access via telephone at ridiculously low prices, and dealing with the authorities can be done efficiently online, much faster than I’m used to in Germany.’ Then the journalist immediately qualifies: ‘Of course, the network is also switched off quickly during anti-government protests.’

Edda Schlager has reported from Central Asia for newspapers and radio stations for almost 20 years, including the Swiss SRF, Radio Free Europe, and Al Jazeera. This makes her one of only a handful of Western journalists who have worked permanently in the region, which spans two time zones and consists of five countries with a total of 65 million inhabitants.

Schlager studied geography in Berlin, but always had her sights set on becoming a journalist. Having grown up in the former communist East Germany, she had learned some Russian at school and therefore dared to take an internship at Almaty’s Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, the mouthpiece of the German minority, which had been forcibly deported to Central Asia under Stalin. Russian is still the lingua franca in the region, even if the language’s importance has been even more rapidly declining since the war in Ukraine. Schlager was so fascinated that she stayed on after her six months at the newspaper. She describes the region as a ‘hinge between Orient and Occident’, a place where influences and interests from Europe, Russia, the Gulf States, South Asia, and China come together. However, there is still hardly any awareness of this in the West, she says. During the attempted overthrow of the government in 2022, Schlager was a highly sought-after correspondent for a fortnight. After that, interest died down again immediately. This experience contributed to her decision to return to Berlin, where she now works for the federal marketing agency ‘Germany Trade and Invest’.

In her first architectural guide, published in 2017, she presented the Tajik capital of Dushanbe. ‘Unfortunately, many beautiful old buildings in the city have been demolished since then.’ The guide to Almaty, which is now being published, has a different significance for her. The Kazakh city was always her base for travelling and conducting research. And so the book, which also contains many interviews, has become quite personal. ‘Almaty is beautifully situated at the foot of the mountains and offers a fascinating mix with its mosques, Soviet buildings, and brand-new skyscrapers,’ she says. ‘But the fact that I felt so at home there was also due to the recognition I earned as a reporter for my long-term commitment.’

The world is facing an escalating climate crisis and rapid urbanisation intensifying pressure on infrastructure, resources, and the environment. In autumn 2025, DOM publishers will release a book that explores how sustainable urban transformation can be achieved through global collaboration, innovative research, and a focus on impact on the ground.

Photo: Urban intervention in Phnom Penh, 2022. © Stefanie Slawski

According to UN-Habitat, by 2050 around 70 per cent of the world’s population – some 6.7 billion people – will be living in cities, putting enormous pressure on infrastructure, resources, and the environment. The question is no longer whether cities and their regions must change, but how they can do so effectively and impactful to really achieve the necessary change.    

The upcoming book Navigating Urban Development, which will be published by DOM in autumn 2025, explores how sustainable urban transformation can be achieved through global collaboration, innovative research, and a focus on impact on the ground. Drawing from ten research projects across East and Southeast Asia - Cambodia, China, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam - , it offers insights into how diverse actors are co-creating solutions for more resilient, inclusive urban futures.    

At the heart of the book is the REframe framework, an impact-oriented monitoring approach that encourages a new way of working and understanding impact. Combining long-term goals (References) with adaptive learning (Reflection), REframe offers a practical tool for navigating complexity and fostering lasting change. Linking theory and practice, Navigating Urban Development offers both conceptual grounding, case studies and hands-on tools for those working toward sustainable, inclusive, and resilient urban transformation.    

The book was compiled as a result of the SURE Facilitation & Synthesis research project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space as part of the Sustainable Development of Urban Regions (SURE) funding priority.  

80 Jahre Kriegsende: Bis zum 7. August bieten wir das neue 600 Seite starke Überblickswerk Städtebau im Nationalsozialismus zum reduzierten Subskriptionspreis an. / 80 years since the end of the war: Until 7 August, we are offering the new 600-page overview Urban Planning in Nazi Germany at a reduced subscription price.

Photo: Fritz Todt - Kopf der nach ihm benannten militärisch organisierten Bautruppe - vor der Staumauer des Wasserkraftwerks am Dnjepr in der Ukraine, wohl 1941. / Fritz Todt - head of the militarily organized construction group named after him - in front of the dam wall of the hydroelectric power plant on the Dnieper in the Ukraine, probably in 1941. © Schönleben 1943, S.104. 

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BUCHPRÄSENTATIONEN / BOOK PRESENTATIONS

Grau= Nur mit Anmeldung / Gray= Registration required

16. Oktober / 16 October – 18:00

Fritz-Schumacher-Gesellschaft, Warburg-Haus (Hamburg)

23. Oktober / 23 October – 18:00

Dokumentationszentrum Reichsparteitagsgelände (Nürnberg/Nuremberg)

Infos: klick/click

11. November / 11 November – 18:30

Städtebau-Institut, Universität Stuttgart (Stuttgart)

DEUTSCH (GERMAN)  Am 08. Mai 2025 jährt sich das Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs in Europa zum 80. Mal. Anlässlich des Jahrestags ist bei DOM publishers das Buch Städtebau im Nationalsozialismus erschienen, ein mehr als 600 Seiten starker, umfassender Überblick zum Thema. Bis zum 7. August 2025 bieten wir das Buch zum reduzierten Subskriptionspreis von nur 98 Euro an; ab dem 8. August 2025 kostet der Titel dann 128 Euro. Das gilt auch für die englischsprachige Ausgabe Urban Planning in Nazi Germany.

Städtebau war ein wesentliches Instrument der nationalsozialistischen Diktatur. Er diente der Legitimation von Herrschaft und der Demonstration von Stärke, er begleitete Aufrüstung und Krieg, er vermittelte das gesellschaftspolitische Programm, er war ein Medium der Konkurrenz mit anderen Staaten, er band alte wie neue Fachleute an das Regime und grenzte systematisch Bevölkerungsgruppen aus.  

In Städtebau im Nationalsozialismus wird der Städtebau der NS-Diktatur erstmals nicht nur in seiner außerordentlichen Dynamik, sondern auch im Kontext anderer europäischer Diktaturen jener Zeit betrachtet. Denn zwischen 1933 und 1945 wechselten mehrmals die großen Themen des Städtebaus, die wichtigsten Akteure, die Inhalte der Propaganda, die betroffenen Städte und Gebietstypen, die Programme und Praktiken, die Gewinner und Verlierer. So entsteht ein vielschichtiges Bild, das über die übliche Darstellung bekannter Repräsentationsbauten hinausgeht und auch zentrale Aspekte wie Wohnungsbau, Altstadterneuerung, Innere Kolonisation, Bauten der Aufrüstung sowie die Anlage von großräumiger Infrastruktur, Industriegebieten, Erziehungsanstalten und Lagern berücksichtigt.

Weitere Details zum Buchprojekt: klick.

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ENGLISH (ENGLISCH)  8 May 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. To mark this anniversary, DOM publishers has released the book Urban Planning in Nazi Germany, a more than 600-page comprehensive overview of the topic. Until 7 August 2025, we are offering the book at a reduced subscription price of only 98 euros; from 8 August 2025, the title will then cost 128 euros. 

Urban planning was an essential instrument of the National Socialist dictatorship. It served to legitimize rule and demonstrate strength, accompanied rearmament and war, conveyed the socio-political program, was a medium of competition with other states, tied old and new professionals to the regime, and systematically marginalized population groups.

In this book urban planning under the Nazi dictatorship is for the first time examined not only as something that evolved during the different periods of Nazi rule but also in the context of other European dictatorships of the time. 

For more details on the book project: click.

Are you planning a visit to Expo 2025 in Osaka? Then you should definitely make a detour to Kyoto. As a young architect, Botond Bognar, author of our Architectural Guide Japan (available now in an updated version), learned Japanese in the ancient capital in the 1970s. Now he returns every year to enjoy pan-fried tofu and views from the Moon Crossing Bridge.

Text: Botond Bognar

Photo:  Fushimi Inari-taisha. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain, also named Inari. © Platongkoh | Dreamstime

Kyoto is a cosmopolitan city with outstanding works of contemporary architecture. But the city stands out first and foremost as a cradle of Japanese culture, with an exceptional mix of Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, and traditional urban districts embedded in nature. Kyoto is a human-scale city, best discovered by walking. I visited the city for the first time as a young architect in early 1973, when I settled in a suburb of Kyoto to study Japanese before starting a two-year research fellowship at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. I still visit Japan two or three times a year and always spend time in this favourite city of mine.

Eat. Pontocho, close to the city centre, is a narrow alley, 2 metres wide and 500 metres long. It runs parallel to the Kamo river and is lined on both sides by charming old buildings, which house small, traditional restaurants, pubs, and bars. The wooden buildings along the east side of the lane look onto the river below, and large terraces are set up high over the riverbank from late spring to early autumn. Here, you can enjoy the taste of authentic Kyoto cuisine, a snack, or a refreshing drink, while taking in the panoramic views of the river and east side of Kyoto. I have fond memories of sitting on those ­terraces, often enjoying pan-fried tofu, in the late afternoons. Walk a few metres from the northern end of Pontocho, and you arrive at TIME’S (Sanjo Dori), a small, commercial building designed by Tadao Ando. It features an inviting restaurant-­cum-café, hugging the Takase stream. Its terrace often gave me the perfect respite after a busy day.

Pray. Kyoto is a treasure trove of Japan’s historic architecture. I would single out the Shisen-do Villa (27 Ichijoji Kadoguchi-cho), which was once the residence of the poet Ishikawa Jozan (1583–1672). It is now used as a Soto Zen temple and is one of the most impressive examples of seventeenth-century villas in Kyoto. Visitors should also visit the Kiyomizu-dera (294 Kiyomizu), a Buddhist temple and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated on the slopes of the Higashiyama mountain range in the east of the city. The temple, dating back to the eighth century, sits on a massive wooden sub-structure, with a large terrace offering breath-taking views of the city.

Love. Arashiyama, a district on the western outskirts of the city, is particularly rich in nature. Its Bamboo Forest is a popular retreat among tourists and locals alike, and the Togetsukyo Bridge offers a stunning view of cherry blossoms in the spring. Also located in the district is the new Fukada Art Museum (3–16 Susukino Baba-cho), whose café overlooks a beautiful Japanese garden, with the landscape and river behind it. To enjoy Kyoto at its best, you should plan a visit for either spring or autumn. This is when the nature in and around Kyoto is most intoxicating, with the cherry blossoms in full bloom or the leaves of the Japanese maple trees turning into myriad shades of flaming reds and oranges.

BOTOND BOGNAR is the author of our Architectural Guide Japan (available now in an updated version). He is a licensed architect and internationally respected scholar of Japanese architecture and urbanism with over 20 published books. He is currently Professor and Edgar A. Tafel Endowed Chair in Architecture at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. He lived in Japan for many years in the 1970s and still frequently visits the country.

Nichts war geplant, alles hat sich ergeben: Ein Auto für 300 Pfund brachte ihn 1991 nach Leningrad, ein unverhoffter Anruf 20 Jahre später nach Berlin. Sein Feingefühl für unterschiedliche Sprachen hat Nicolson gewissermaßen unterwegs entwickelt.

Text: Björn Rosen

Photo: John Nicolson im Berliner Verlagshaus. Er stützt sich auf einige der Bücher, die er für DOM bearbeitet hat, darunter die Architekturführer zu Alexandria, Dhaka und Kyjiw sowie Grundlagen-Titel zur Ukraine. © Philipp Meuser

Vermutlich profitiert er bis heute von seinem klassisch britischen Bildungsweg. Aufgewachsen in zwei Dörfern im Südwesten Englands, in denen »nichts je passiert«, kam John Nicolson mit elf Jahren aufs Internat im nahen Winchester. »Wir waren in einem Gebäude aus dem 15. Jahrhundert untergebracht, zum Teil unbeheizt, aber sehr schön.« Im darauf folgenden Jahr begann der Altgriechisch-Unterricht. »Man bekam einen Text voller Wörter, die man noch nie zuvor gesehen hatte – Poesie, die obskur wirkte –,  und musste dann die Bedeutung herausfinden«, erzählt Nicolson. »Wie bei einem Kreuzworträtsel.« 

Fast 50 Jahre später macht der Brite im Grunde noch immer das Gleiche. Statt antiker Gedichte fordern ihn  nun andere obskure Texte heraus. Wie zum Beispiel überträgt man das »transluzente, PTFE-verkleidete  Leichtbausystem« ins Englische, das in Zusammenhang mit einem Projekt in China im Handbuch Aquarienbauten erwähnt wird? Und was hat es mit der »Qa’a mit vier Iwanen« auf sich, »die als Adaption des traditionellen Wohntypus von Kairo gelesen werden kann oder,  was wahrscheinlicher ist, als europäisierter Import des osmanischen Hallengrundrisses«, wie es im Architekturführer über Ägyptens Hauptstadt heißt? Seit mehr als 30 Jahren übersetzt und lektoriert Nicolson Texte über Architektur, seit rund fünf Jahren arbeitet er regelmäßig für DOM publishers.

Von John Nicolson bearbeitet:

Aquarium Buildings

Edited by Jürgen Lange and Natascha Meuser, 464 pages, 900 images, Hardcover with elastic strap, ISBN 978-3-86922-756-6, 128€.

The aim of this publication is to provide architects and their clients, zoologists and operators of large aquariums, with planning parameters and quality criteria to help them in designing a sustainable aquarium.

Zuletzt war er für das Buch Mies in His Own Words verantwortlich, das alle Schriften, Reden und Interviews des deutsch-amerikanischen Architekten versammelt. Herausgegeben von den Experten Michelangelo Sabatino aus den USA und Vittorio Pizzigoni aus Italien, richtet es sich an ein internationales Publikum: Einige deutsche Texte Mies van der Rohes übersetzte Nicolson neu und prüfte bereits vorhandene Übersetzungen – eine Herausforderung, denn jeder Formulierung des notorisch wortkargen Mies wird unter Architekturhistorikern größte Bedeutung beigemessen. »Ich musste mich zurückhalten, Formulierungen zu  stark zu glätten«, sagt Nicolson. Sein erklärtes Ziel war es, den »flavour of Mies« zu erhalten.

Nicolson spricht Russisch, außerdem Deutsch, Französisch, Spanisch und Italienisch (wenngleich er eine bescheidenere  Einschätzung abgeben würde, sollten Sie  ihn einmal danach fragen). An die Schulzeit schloss sich zunächst ein Studium von Altgriechisch, Latein und Philosophie in Oxford an. Dass Nicolson  heute ein polyglot ist, liegt an den vielen Zufällen, die darauf folgten.

Es begann 1989 damit, dass Gabriel, Mitbewohner in der Londoner WG, eine Anzeige im Guardian entdeckte: Wer könnte russische Künstler kostenlos unterbringen? Zwar wurde daraus erst einmal nichts, und Gabriel schaffte es auch nicht zur Vernissage, in die man ihn einlud. Aber John nahm den Termin wahr und begegnete dabei der Übersetzerin aus Wolgograd, die die  Künstler begleitete. Ein bleibender Eindruck: Irina wurde später Nicolsons Frau. 

Als das Paar etwas Geld zusammengespart hatte – er arbeitete  als Nachtwächter, sie als Kellnerin –, kaufte es ein Auto für 300 Pfund, um Russland zu besuchen. Dort erlebte Nicolson 1991 die letzten Wochen der Sowjetunion  – und blieb schließlich fast 20 Jahre in Leningrad, das nun wieder Sankt Petersburg hieß. Er lernte die  Sprache, vertiefte sich in russische Literatur (die Thema  seiner Doktorarbeit wurde) und nahm bald erste Aufträge  als Übersetzer an, immer häufiger aus dem Bereich  Architektur. »Einen Job im eigentlichen Sinne hatte ich nie.« Nichts war geplant, alles hat sich ergeben.

Im Jahr 2009 verschlug es die Familie nach Deutschland. Sie hatten sich nach einem Tapetenwechsel gesehnt und ein paar europäische Länder besucht. Die Aufnahmeprüfung der ältesten Tochter in Berlin war zwar schon wieder vergessen, als Monate später das Telefon in Sankt Petersburg klingelte und die Schule an den Beginn des Unterrichts (in fünf Tagen!) erinnerte, doch die Entscheidung dafür umso schneller gefällt.  Wenn John Nicolson von seiner Schöneberger Wohnung erzählt, beschreibt er den Einfall des Lichts und den  Blick durchs Fenster – essenzielle Punkte. Denn während ihn Texte nach China, Ägypten, Montréal und Kyjiw führen, sitzt er doch immer am selben Schreibtisch.

Piet Nieder, lecturer at the TU Berlin,  has a long-lasting admiration for the East African country: from his first visit as a student to two years as a university lecturer right through to the research for his doctoral thesis that has now resulted in his book, The Addis Ababa House (currently no longer available through our webshop).

Text: Damien Leaf

Photo: Nieder with architect and photographer Henock Ashagre (left) and Tadesse Girmay, conservationist and researcher at EiABC. © Piet Nieder

When Piet Nieder co-organised a symposium at the Goethe Institute in the Ethiopian capital in March, it was the culmination of several years of work on the cultural heritage of Addis Ababa. The German first came to the country in 2005 as an architecture student and tourist. His interest was piqued. ‘I believe that architecture is particularly relevant in a developing country like Ethiopia, where it can still be a social game changer,’ says the 43-year-old.

In 2012, Nieder moved to Addis Ababa as a lecturer at the local institute for Architecture (EiABC). As part of his doctoral thesis, he became aware of the typology at the centre of his recently published book. The Addis Ababa House (currently no longer available in our webshop, but only through retailers) introduces a very specific form of architecture that emerged in the Ethiopian capital after its foundation in 1886: pavilion-like buildings, made of stone, earth, and wood, characterised by expressive pinched roofs, generous verandas, and a high degree of detailing. ‘At that time, two things came together that are reflected in the building’s design: an indigenous city foundation and a new cosmopolitan spirit, because people from all over the world moved to Addis Ababa after Ethiopia was internationally recognised as a sovereign African state.’

Nieder conducted interviews on the ground, but he was particularly impressed by the amount of material that reached him online from Addis Ababa after an appeal via social media. ‘I see it as an obligation to make my findings accessible in Ethiopia, as well.’ This, he hopes, can also help to preserve the unique heritage. Of the 170 buildings in the style recorded in a database, many have already been destroyed.