Zeido Zeido is a practicing German-Syrian architect and has been associated with the Chair in Architectural Conservation since 2019. From 2016 to 2019, he served as a lecturer and a doctoral candidate at the Chair. In 2019 he completed his doctoral dissertation entitled "Reclaiming the Architectural Heritage of Aleppo after the Syrian War", which was awarded the distinction magna cum laude.

Zeido holds a Master’s degree in Architecture from Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul (2015) and a Bachelor’s degree in Architectural Engineering from the Private University of Science & Arts (P.U.S.A) in Aleppo (2009). He has gathered professional experience in several international contexts, including Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Germany.

Zeido was an affiliated member of the DFG-funded Graduate Research Training Group 1913 from 2017 to 2019. He is currently a member of the UNESCO Roster of Experts on Syrian Cultural Heritage. He is also a member of "Stunde Null“, a network coordinated by the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) that is concerned with the conservation of cultural heritage in Syria.

Awards and Honors 

Gerda Henkel Foundation Scholarship

Publication support from the DFG Research Training Group 1913 and the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Urban Planning at BTU

Selected interviews

Televised interview “BTU für Aleppo” (RBB: Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, 20 April 2016)

Televised interview “Gutted facades, pulverized houses, devastated buildings. One of the oldest cities in the world, Aleppo, is dying” (AFP: Agence France-Presse, 26 May 2017) This interview was translated and reused by many other media agencies including The Local, IMAZ Press, and Arab News.

Newspaper interview “Stadtplanung: Wie die Uni in Cottbus helfen will, Aleppo wieder aufzubauen” (Berliner Zeitung, 6 April 2017)

Newspaper interview (lA-Croix, 13 December 2017)

Research Focus

• Built cultural heritage in the context of conflicts
• Urban heritage of the MENA region
• Mapping cities’ urban development and history (including architectural, social, and political aspects)

Teaching Experience  

• Frequent guest lecturer at Brandenburg University of Technology
• Guest lecturer at the German University in Cairo, Berlin Campus
• Co-developed and co-taught the module “Preservation of ruins” for the Heritage Conservation and Site Management Mater Program at Helwan University

Selected lectures taught: 

• The post-war reconstruction experience of Warsaw
• Beirut’s division and post-war experience
• The destruction of Aleppo’s heritage before and during the conflict: The Different Urban Spaces and the conflict division
• Heritage and Identity: Heritage Sites as a tool for international conflicts in the Middle East

Zeido, Zeido & Çağaptay, Suna (Eds.): Mapping Cities in the MENA Region: Visualising the Untold Narratives of Heritage. Birkhäuser. (https://doi.org/10.1515/9783035625677)

Zeido, Zeido. A Mental Map of Aleppo: The City’s Urban Evolution and its Architectural Styles. In: Zeido, Zeido & Çağaptay, Suna (Eds.): Mapping Cities in the MENA Region: Visualising the Untold Narratives of Heritage. Birkhäuser. (https://doi.org/10.1515/9783035625677-005)

Zeido, Zeido. (2023) Attempting to document and rehabilitate Aleppo between 1994 and 2011: the ramifications of pre-conflict built heritage mismanagement and the effects of the scarcity of documentation on options available for post-conflict conservation. 7 (3). Built Heritage. Springer Open.  (https://doi.org/10.1186/s43238-023-00084-2) 

Zeido, Zeido (2019) Doctoral Thesis: Reclaiming the Architectural Heritage of Aleppo after the Syrian War. Brandenburgische Technische Universität. Cottbus 2019. https://b-tu.kobv.de/KobvIndexRecord/btu_asp_sisis_955069?sid=14655309

Zeido, Zeido & Ibold, Nura (2019). The Division of Aleppo City: Heritage and Urban Space. In: Frank, Sybille / Ristic, Marjana (Eds.): Urban Heritage in Divided Cities: Contested Pasts. Taylor & Francis. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429460388-7

Selected Conferences and Events 

Conference «11th Fields of Conflict Conference» (University of Edinburgh, Online Conference, 7.–8. Mai 2022)

Symposium «Heritage and Conflict in the MENA Region: Cases from Aleppo, Beirut, Tunis, Hebron, and Acre» – Co-organizer and Speaker (Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany, 28.–29. Oktober 2019)

Conference «Destruction/ (Re-)Construction: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Cultural Heritage in Conflict» - Chair (American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, 30. September – 2. Oktober 2019)

Conference «Catastrophe and Challenge: Cultural Heritage in post-conflict Recovery» (Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany) (25. März 2017)

Conference «Post-war Cities» (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Weimar, Germany, 28.–29. January 2017)

Experts Meeting «Second Meeting of the Young Experts Forum on the Safeguarding of Syrian Cultural Heritage»  (UNESCO, Berlin, Germany) (22.–25. September 2016)

Workshop «Syrian Urban Research Network» (TU Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 12.–13. September 2016)

Experts Meeting «Guidelines on Safeguarding Cultural Significance of Urban Structures Damaged by Armed Conflict» – Member of the organization committee and Speaker (Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany, 30. Juni – 2. Juli 2016)

Workshop «Scenarios for Post-War Reconstruction in Aleppo» (University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany, 16.–19. Juni 2016)

International Experts Meeting «Emergency Safeguarding of Syria’s Cultural Heritage» (UNESCO, Berlin, Germany, 3.–4. Juni 2016)

Experts Meeting «Young Experts Forum on the Safeguarding of Syrian Cultural Heritage»  UNESCO (Berlin, Germany, 1.–2. Juni 2016)