DEPARTMENTOF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANINNG ETH IOPIAN H ISTORY OF ARCH ITECTURE

ARCHITECTUREOFT HE60' S ARCHI

TECT
UREI
NTHE20’
S Thec orridorsofAddi sAba bat oda ya rebus tl
ingwi thli
fea ndr eec ta
Approx imat
elytheyears1955- 1968wereaboom per i
odforthe
vibrantmi xofc ulture,commer c e,andc ommuni ty.Ma jorthor oughf are
constructi
onindustr
yinE thiopiaandma nylar
gebuildi
ngswere
slikeBol eRoa da reli
nedwi t
hmoder ns hops ,r
es t
a urants,a ndhot els,
erectedinAddisAba ba
, newt echnologi
eswa sappli
edwithpil
e Thea rchit
ec tur
eofAddisAba baha sundergoneapr ofound
cateringt obot hloc a
lsa ndt ouristsands howc asingac ont empor ary
founda ti
ons,
vibrat
edconc rete,ma nyf
actory ni
shedsurf
ace transforma t
ion,reecti
ngt hecit
y’shist
oric
a landsoc i
o-economic
urba nlif
estyle.Mes kel Squa r
es ervesa sas ignic a ntpubl ics pac efor
ma terial
s&hos ti
ngbymea nsbi gtowercra
nes. cha nges.Intheea r
ly20thcentury,t
hec i
tywa sc ha
racteriz
edby
culturaleventsa nds oc i
a lgatherings ,embody i
ngc ommuni tys pir
iti
n
tradit
ionalEthiopia
na rc
hitect
ure,withtukulsa ndOrthodox
thehea rtofthec ity.Entot oRoa dc onnec t
sresident ialarea stot he
Thewor kofdesi
gni
ngallt
hes
enewbui l
dingswasdi
vi
dedbet
ween chur c
hest hatempha si
zedl oc
alma ter
ial
sa ndc ommuna ll
ivi
ng.
scenicE ntotoMount a i
ns ,
offer ingpa nor ami cviewsa nda c cesst o
Archit
ectswhowereofmanynat
ional
it
iesandwhosometi
mes Thei n uenc eoftheItal
i
a noccupati
oni nthe1930si ntroduced
historic
a lsi
tes.Mea nwhi le,Mer katos ta ndsa soneofAf ri
c a'slargest
prefer
redori
gina
landra
theri
ndi
vidua
ldes i
gns neoc l
a s
sicalsty
les,
seeninbuildi
ngsl i
ketheI mperialPalaceand
open- airma rkets
, bri
mmi ngwi t hv endor ssell
ingev erythingf rom
theNa t
ionalPalace
,whichc ombinedE uropeana est
het i
cswith
spicestot exti
les,highlight i
ngt hec i
ty'sr i
chc ommer ci
al activit
y .
Neverthel
essthema i
nc onclusi
onisthatt
hereha sgrownupacert
ain Ethiopianelement s.
Ov erall
,thesec orri
dor sa r
ev ita
l toAddi sAba ba'sident i
ty,bl ending
unif
ormityofa ppr
oa ch,withthecommonf a
ctorsbeinganal
ysi
sof
tr
a dit
iona li
n uenc eswi thmoder nur ba ndy na mic sands er vinga s
funct
ionalrequir
ement s
,adaptat
iontothegradua l
lymore Asthec i
tymov edintothel at
e20tha ndea rl
y21stcenturies,awa v
e
essent i
alspa c
esf orec onomi ca ctivit
ya ndc ultural expression.
i
ndustrial
i
zedbui l
dingmet hods ,
&us eofthema ter
ialswhi
char
e ofmoder nizat
ionsweptt hrough,drivenbyec onomicgr owtha nd
compet i
ti
veforpric
ea ndava i
l
abil
it
yintheEthiopianma r
ket
. globa li
zat
ion.Theskyli
nenowf eat
uresc ontemporarysky scr
apers
andc ommer ci
a l
centers
,sucha sEdnaMa l
landtheAf r
icanUni on
Als
othemulti
stor
ybui
l
dingsaut
omati
cal
l
yenf
orc
emor
edi
sci
pli
ne Hea dqua r
ters,
whi c
hempl oymoder nma t
eria
lsl
ikeglassa ndsteel
, Akeya spectoft hisurbangr owthistheenhancementofthel i
ght
ing
inthedes
ignthansma
ll&lowst
ruc
tur
es. empha si
zingsleek,
functi
ona ldesi
gns. T
hisa r
chi
tect
ural shif
tnot sys
tem.S tr
eetlight i
ngha simproveds i
gnicantl
y,parti
cul
a r
lyi
n
onlyr eec tsadeparturefr
om t r
adit
iona lf
ormsbuta l
soi ndicat
esa commer ciala
rea sa ndma jorthor
oughfares
,contr
ibuti
ngt osaf
ety
broa derembr aceofglobal a
rchit
ect
ur altr
ends. andnight l
i
fe.Thec ityhasbeguni ntegr
ati
ngenergy -
effic i
entLED
l
ighti
ng, whichnotonl yreducesenergyconsumptionbuta l
so
Toda y
,AddisAbababa l
a ncesitsri
chc ult
ural herita
gewi thady namic enhancesv i
si
bilitya ndaestheti
cappea l
.
urbanlandscape,asnewdev elopment sseekt oi ncorporat
elocal
identit
yands ust
a i
nabi
lity
.Thisongoi ngev olut i
oni l
l
us t
rat
esthe Mor eov er,publ i
cspacesli
k eparksandsquar esa r
ebei ngbetter
ci
t y’
saspi
rat
ionsformoder nitywhilestil
lpay inghoma getoitspast
, i
ll
umi natedt opr omoteni ghtti
meus eandc ommuni t
yenga gement.
creati
ngauni quearchi
tecturalnarr
a t
ivetha tc onti
nuest ounfold. Theus eofs ma r
tli
ghtingt ec
hnologiesi
salsobei ngex pl
ored,
all
owi ngf orada ptiv
elightingsolut
ionsthatr espondt oreal-
ti
me
condi ti
ons .Ov eral
l
,thegrowi ngurbanlandsc apeofAddi sAbabai
s
accompa niedbyeffor tstoc r
eateasafer
,mor ev ibrant,andenergy
-
effic ientenv ironmentt hroughi mprovedli
ght i
ngs yst
ems .
Withthepos
it
ioni
ngofCityHa
llontopoft
hehil
lintheol
dcit
y
centr
etheEmperori
ntendedt
otri
ggersev
era
lurbanonce.

T
he rstistheesta
bl i
shmentofapol
eforChurc
hil
lRoad,whi
chnow
rana
sas trai
ghtaxisfr
om thet
rai
nst
ati
ontotheCityHall
.
T
hesecondi stheredevel
opmentoft
hehistor
ica
lareaar
oundPi
azza
.
T
hethir
di sanevenwi deri
mpa c
tonthemoderniza
tionoft
heci
ty
a
ndsocietyasawhol e.
Histor
icall
y,AddisAbaba'
sa r
chi
tect
urewa schara
c ter
izedbyt r
adi
ti
ona
l
Ethi
opians tr
uctures
,suchastukul
sandc hurches
, buil
twi thlocal
ma teri
alsandr eecti
ngc ommuna ll
iv
ing.Themi d-20thc entury
i
nt r
oducedneoc l
ass
ical
in uences
,part
icula
rlyduringt heItali
an
occupation,res
ulti
nginiconi
cbuil
dingsli
ketheImper ia l
Pa l
aceand
theNa t
ional Pa
lace.

I
nc ontras
t,moder nAddisAba bashowc asesadyna micskyl
ine lled
withcontempor aryskysc
rapers,s
hoppi ngma l
ls
,andoffic ecompl exes
ma def r
om gl
as sands t
eel.T
hisshiftsymboli
zesrapidurbaniza
tion
andec onomicgr owth,bl
endinggloba lar
chit
ectur
a ltr
endswi t
hl ocal
cultur
a l
ident
ity.Today,t
hec i
tyreec tsaba l
ancebetweeni tsr
ich
heri
tagea ndaspirat
ionsformoder nit
y,cr
eati
ngauni quea r
c hi
tectura
l
landscapethatc onti
nuestoev ol
ve.

D - BY- H ANNA ABIY ID - APDR/271/2014 CH -BY- ARCH ITECT M ICH AEL