The ancient city of Asmara is the capital of Eritrea and its largest settlement. Its beautiful
architecture was rediscovered by outsiders in the early 1990s. In this book the authors offer
an original analysis of the colonial city providing a history not only of the physical and
visible urban reality but also of a second invisible city as it exists in the imagination.
The colonial city becomes a fantastical set of cities where each one reflects the others as if
in a kaleidoscope. Architecture in Asmara. Colonial Origin and Postcolonial Experiences breaks
new ground and moves us a little further along in the attempt to decipher Asmara in terms of
contemporary theory. This title of the Basics series brings together scholars from a
multiplicity of disciplines who have shown the ways in which colonial and postcolonial
criticism has served as a platform for new diversified readings of Asmara.
