Haile Selassie's Imperial Modernity: Expatriate Architects and the Shaping of Addis Ababa

2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayala Levin
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
African Unity ◽  
United Nations Economic Commission ◽  
The Past ◽  
Economic Commission ◽  
Organization Of African Unity ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The City

In the 1960s, Addis Ababa experienced a construction boom, spurred by its new international stature as the seat of both the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Organization of African Unity. Working closely with Emperor Haile Selassie, expatriate architects played a major role in shaping the Ethiopian capital as a symbol of an African modernity in continuity with tradition. Haile Selassie's Imperial Modernity: Expatriate Architects and the Shaping of Addis Ababa examines how a distinct Ethiopian modernity was negotiated through various borrowings from the past, including Italian colonial planning, both at the scale of the individual building and at the scale of the city. Focusing on public buildings designed by Italian Eritrean Arturo Mezzedimi, French Henri Chomette, and the partnership of Israeli Zalman Enav and Ethiopian Michael Tedros, Ayala Levin critically explores how international architects confronted the challenges of mediating Haile Selassie's vision of an imperial modernity.

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