Kazakhstan: Asel Yeszhanova
Asel Yeszhanova is the co-founder and director of Urban Forum Kazakhstan (formerly known as Urban Forum Almaty), an organization in Almaty, Kazakhstan, that focuses on interdisciplinary approaches to urban design (2015–). Beginning her education in Astana, Kazakhstan, she relocated to the U.S. She continued her education at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, and she holds a master’s of science in architecture from the Pratt Institute in New York.
Yeszhanova worked as a principal architect at Atomik Architecture (2015–2017). She has also curated numerous exhibitions, including “City Nomads,” in London, England, which featured Kazakhstani artists working in various modalities (2016). She completed an artist-in-residence program at the Rog Center in Ljublijana, Slovenia (c. 2024), where her research and work focused on nomadic yurts. Yeszhanova was also featured in the book, 100 Women : Architects in Practice (2023), and she earned a Bolashak International Scholarship, which allowed her to study abroad in the U.S.
References
“About the Project.” Urban Forum. Accessed April 16, 2025. https://arman.urbanforum.kz/arman-about-en.
“American Desert Dreams.” Port Magazine, April 7, 2017. https://www.port-magazine.com/art-photography/american-desert-dreams/.
“Asel Yeszhanova.” Center Rog. Accessed April 16, 2025. https://center-rog.si/en/residencies/asel-yeszhanova/.
“Asel Yeszhanova.” RTVSLO. Accessed April 16, 2025. https://www.rtvslo.si/kultura/citat/asel-yeszhanova/729174.
“City Nomads: Kazakhstan, 25 Years On.” Port Magazine, September 23, 2016. https://www.port-magazine.com/design/city-nomads-kazakhstan-25-years-on/.
“Comfortable Urban Fabric.” Soros Kazakhstan Foundation. September 22, 2021. https://www.soros.kz/en/comfortable-urban-fabric-assel-yeszhanova-founder-and-creative-force-behind-the-urban-forum-almaty/.
Darieva, Tsypylma, and Carola S. Neugebauer, eds. Urban Activism in Eastern Europe and Eurasia : Strategies and Practices. Berlin: DOM Publishers, 2020.
“Designer in Residency – Asel Yeszhanova, 2024.” Center Rog Ljubljana. Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J2UiLhwgDY.
Draper, Derek. “Atomik Architecture’s Adventures in Kazakhstan.” RIBAJ, September 4, 2019. https://www.ribaj.com/intelligence/rising-star-2018-derek-draper-atomik-architecture-working-in-kazakhstan-almaty.
Harriss, Harriet, Naomi House, Monika Parrinder, and Tom Ravenscroft. 100 Women: Architects in Practice. London: RIBA Publishing, 2023. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032649580.
Oades, Mike. “‘Astana Is the Architectural Love Child of the Emerald City and Back to the Future II.’” The Architects’ Journal (blog), June 12, 2017. https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/practice/culture/astana-is-the-architectural-love-child-of-the-emerald-city-and-back-to-the-future-ii.
“Rog Forum – Rog Design Days.” Distributed Design Platform. Accessed April 16, 2025. https://distributeddesign.eu/event/rog-forum/.
“Symposium MANUFUTURING.” Metalab. Accessed April 16, 2025. https://metalab.space/en/project/symposium-manufuturing/.
Urban Forum Kazakhstan. Accessed April 16, 2025. https://urbanforum.kz.
Yeszhanova, Asel. LinkedIn. Accessed April 16, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/asel-yeszhanova-837595100/?originalSubdomain=kz.
“Yurts as a Collaborative Community Effort.” push forward. January 29, 2025. https://push-forward.org/novica/yurts-collaborative-community-effort.
