»¿¿¿ bauhaus« (selam bauhaus) means »hello bauhaus« in Amharic one of the most important
languages in Ethiopia. Visually one could also interpret the Amharic letters as Why Bauhaus to
question the overuse of this label during the Bauhaus Centennial in 2019. So why Bauhaus? 100
years ago the teaching of architecture and urban design at the Bauhaus responded to rapid
changes in society and their impact on the built environment. The ambitions and methods of the
historical Bauhaus can still inspire us in the present day: Today facing global climate change
and human migration these themes are more pressing than ever. Through the Emerging City Lab
Addis Ababa (ECL-AA) the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and the Ethiopian Institute of
Architecture Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) at Addis Ababa University
established a joint lab. Combining innovation and social responsibility through experiments
with building materials practices and planning technologies beyond cultural social and
disciplinary boundaries this publication shows educational and research projects that emerged
from the collaboration. In 2019 they were presented in the exhibition »¿¿¿ bauhaus (selam
bauhaus) - hello bauhaus« on the occasion of the centenary of the Bauhaus and the 65th
anniversary of the EiABC.
