Antonio Paoletti
Dwelling: Global Housing
Architectures in motion - Reconfiguring Addis Abeba’s narratives
Ethiopia is both one of the fastest-growing economies and one of the poorest countries in the world. The explosive growth of its capital, Addis Abeba, proceeds through evictions and demolitions. The informal settlements of Talian Sefer, a district in the heart of the city, will be soon replaced by a luxurious CBD. Alongside losing the tangible heritage comprised of streets, alleyways and historical architecture, Addis would thus erase human narratives moulded through the structures of the longue durée, with the risk of missing its last chance to retain its cultural identity and build an inclusive city.
The project aims to densify and reconfigure the old city without erasing its traces, interpreting its styles of life while providing a dynamic framework from which the settlement can grow organically through time. By decoding decentralised morphogenetic processes and learning from self-organising systems, the proposal proposes a model to design modern neighbourhoods in the Global South.
More information
- Master thesis 'Architectures in motion'