In its early decades the Ethiopian capital founded in 1886 witnessed a very specific form
of architecture. At the beginning of the East African country's first urbanisation process a
mixture of vernacular knowledge and a new cosmopolitan mindset led to an architectural type
that local professionals refer to as the 'Addis Ababa Style': Pavilion-like buildings of
different sizes made of stone earth and wood characterised by expressive pinched roofs
generous verandas with curtain walls and a high degree of detailing. Today those graceful
appropriate and nature-based buildings are under threat of being swallowed up due to
shortsighted economic interests. In cooperation with the Institute for Architecture in Addis
Ababa (EiABC) architects of Berlin's Technical University studied this typology with regard to
its embeddedness in local resources climatic conditions and craftsmanship. As such they
employed the 'Addis Ababa House' as a case study to discuss the possibility of a
non-industrial building type that reflects the desire for a cosmopolitan urban life.
