Walter Koditek

Walter Koditek is (b. 30 Nov. 1964, Emmerich, Germany) is a German urban planner, author and photographer who has been working and living in Asia since 2006, settling in Siem Reap in 2024 after spending the years 2014 – 2023 in Hong Kong.

After graduating at Technical University Berlin, Walter Koditek worked as a chartered urban planner at urban consultancies on various design and planning tasks in German ­cities and regions, and was an assistant professor at the ­Brandenburg Technical ­University Cottbus before moving to Cambodia and Vietnam as an urban planning expert advising on municipal and national levels. From 2007 to 2010, he was a technical advisor for urban planning in Battambang with the German Development Service (DED). He documented the city’s architectural heritage, resulting in his 2018 publication, Battambang Heritage.

Following a three-year consultancy at the Ministry of Construction in Hanoi, Vietnam, he was back to Cambodia in 2015 – 2016, freelancing for Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) from 2015 to 2016 and gathering the material for the Architectural Guide of Phnom Penh he co-autihored in 2020 — the Khmer version being released in November 2025.

Photomontage for Walter Koditek’s photo exhibition on Phnom Penh architectural heritahe from the Sangkum Reastr Niyum (1955−1970) era, 17 – 21 Nov. 2025 at Bloom offices, Phnom Penh. [© Walter Koditek].

While based in Hong Kong, Walter Koditek documented the architectural landscape with his camera, focusing on the modernist architectural legacy of the sprawling metropolis, part of his ongoing committment to cultural heritage conservation. His richly illustrated book on Hong Kong Modern architecture from the 1950s to the 1970s (2022) was followed three years by a similar work on Bangkok, published in 2025. His quest for remnants of modernist architecture takes him around cities of Southeast Asia, from Champasak (Laos) to Ho Chi Minh Ville (Vietnam) or Malaysia.

Publications

• ‎Battambang Heritage, Hong Kong, Apsara Books, 2018. ISBN 978 – 9887879602.
• [with Moritz Henning] Phnom Penh: Architectural Guide, Berlin, DOM Publishers, 2020, 364 p. ISBN-13 978 – 3869224343. KH version: មគ្គុទ្ទេសក៍ស្ថាបត្យកម្មក្រុងភ្នំពេញ, Dom Publishers, 2025.
• Hong Kong Modern Architecture of the 1950s-1970s [香港摩登], Hong Kong, blue lotus editions, 2022, 448 p. ISBN 9789887619291.
• [texts, photographs, design] Bangkok Modern: Architecture of the 1950s-1970s [บางกอกโมเดิร์น สถาปัตยกรรมในยุค 1950s ถึง 1970s], Bangkok, River Books, 2025, 520 p. ISBN 978 – 6164511019.