DAZ_Forum Series:
ASMARA – Africa’s SecretModernistCity
Exhibition at DAZ presents Asmara’s rich architectural heritage
Exhibition October 3 – December 3, 2006
Opening: Monday, October 2, 2006, 7 pm
Press Preview: Monday, October 2, 2006, 6 pm
Scharoun Saal
GermanCenter for Architecture DAZ, Köpenicker Str. 48/49 in 10179 Berlin-Mitte.
Tel. 030 – 27 87 99 28,
Opening hours: Tuesday - Friday 10 am –5 pm, Saturday + Sunday 2 pm – 6 pm.
Free entry.
Asmara is Africa’ secret modernist city. Having survivedthe troubles of the Second World War, 40 years of Ethiopian occupation, and a thirty-year war of liberation almost unscathed, the city today is home to the largest ensemble of modernist architecture anywhere in the world. Only MiamiSouthBeach, Tel Aviv, and Napier (New Zealand) have similar, though smaller, ensembles from that epoch.
For the first time, the rich architectural heritage of the Eritrean capital Asmara will be introduced in an exhibition at Deutsches Architektur Zentrum (DAZ) in Berlin from October 3 to December 3, 2006. Asmara is the only larger city in the world where a whole variety of architectural movements and their predecessors is assembled in the center in one ensemble. On the initiative of the Project-Group Asmara, an alliance of Eritreans and Ethiopian and German architects in cooperation with Verein Solidarisch Leben Lernen e.V., Asmara’s architectural culture, little known even among experts, will be examined from various perspectives in this exhibition. The exhibition is curated by Dr. Naigzy Gebremedhin (former director of the Centre for the Preservation of Eritrea’s Cultural Heritage, CARP) and Prof. Dr. Omar Akbar (director of the Bauhaus foundation, Weimar). The opening of the exhibition Asmara – Africa’s SecretModernistCity will be on Monday, October 3, at 7 pm in the Scharoun Saal at DAZ. During the course of the exhibition, there will also be an accompanying program on the culture and history of Asmara and Eritrea.
The exhibition will be introduced by the curators and project initiators at a press preview on Monday, October 2, 2006, at 6 pm at Deutsches Architektur Zentrum DAZ. We would be grateful if journalist would register by September 25, 2006, using the enclosed form.
Fiat Tiagliero Service Station (Photograph: E. Denison) Cinema Impero (Photograph: E. Denison)
Asmara’s city centre was largely built in the 1930s under Italian colonial rule. Most buildings were built in the architectural language of architettura razionale, the Italian modernism of the 1920s and 30s, but there are also numerous examples of novecento, futurismo, neoclassicism, neo-baroque, monumentalism, as well as buildings with links to local Eritrean architecture. Despite the growing interest in the recent history of architecture, especially in classical modernism and the movimento moderno, Asmara is little known even among experts.
The fascination of Asmara’s architecture and urban planning must be confronted with our knowledge about the background of its creation, and thus we must examine a contradictory era when fascism, race divisions and the avant-garde claims of modernism all appeared simultaneously. The exhibition shows the city as it is today, its special culture, but also today’s problems and challenges resulting from its function as the capital and the increasing pressure to expand.
The exhibition wants to contribute to the debate about the evaluation of classical modernism, the globalisation of modern architecture, its historic value, and also about effects in terms of urban planning. Furthermore, the exhibition is also intended as support for Eritrea’s endeavours to have Asmara classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, which would also support the maintenance of this unique architectural ensemble. Apart from UNESCO, further patrons of this exhibition are the international architect’s association UIA (Union International des Architects), Bund Deutscher Architekten (BDA), H.E. Petros Tseggai Asghedom, Ambassador of Eritrea, and Dr. Uschi Eid, MdB.
The Heritage of Colonialism and Asmara Style
Asmara looks back on 700 years of history. The name means “the unified” – centuries ago, it was formed by four settlements unifying. Its development into a modern city began in 1899 with the occupation by Italian colonialists and the establishment of a military post. In 1900, Asmara became the capital if the Italian colony Eritrea. Up to the early 1930s, numerous buildings for public, cultural and business uses went up, as well as villas and other houses.
Asmara’s European population grew from 4,000 in 1934 to 70,000 in 1940. Roughly over the same period, the Eritrean population doubled to 200,000 inhabitants. In the short period between 1935 and 1941, Asmara very quickly changed from a provincial town to one of the most modern cities on the African continent.
Asmara’s leap into modernity is remarkable not just from the perspectives of urbanism and architecture, but also reflects the ambivalence of modernism on the African continent. Thus Asmara’s urban constitution and boom also stand for fascism and Italy’s expansionist policies against what was then Abyssinia (Ethiopia). Colonial segregation and fascist race laws, which were implemented beginning in 1937, were also reflected in urban planning and became part of everyday life until the city was conquered by British troops in1941.
Despite all this, the Eritrean population accepted the city over time. Thus, here in the East African highlands, a unique modernist city developed, a mix of European-Italian and African-Eritrean cultures. In this atmosphere of tolerance, which is also known as Asmara style, the various cultures, religions, and ethnic groups live together in the capital of this East African state, which became independent in 1991.
In 2001, the Centre for the Preservation o the Eritrean Cultural Heritage (CARP) managed to convince the Eritrean government to protect the entire city centre of Asmara as a national monument. This exhibition wants to draw international attention to this cultural heritage.
About the Exhibition
The exhibition is based on the book Asmara – Africa’s Secret Modernist City by Edward Denison, Guang Yu Ren & Naigzy Gebremedhin (Merrell Publishers, London/New York, 2003). It will consist of four thematic units examining not just the architecture, but also its current as well as its historical social context. Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau (Rainer Weisbach) is responsible for the exhibition design. Photographs by the British photographer Edward Denison and architectural models by Wolfgang Knoll (Stuttgart) visualize the architectural culture of Asmara. Furthermore, the film City of Dreams (Eye Level LLC, Washington, 2005,) by Ruby Ofori and Edward Scott will be shown, which introduces the city and its architecture in the form of a documentary with numerous interviews.
Selam Hotel (Photograph: E. Denison) Cinema Odeon (Photograph: E. Denison)
The exhibition will initially be shown as part of the DAZ_Forum series at the Deutsche Architektur Zentrum in Berlin. Then it will be seen as a travelling exhibition in, among other places, Frankfurt a.M. (DeutschesArchitekturMuseum - DAM, February 6 – March 15, 2007), in Stuttgart (BDA-Galerie Wechselraum, September 21 – October 20, 2007) and for the next world architecture congress in Turin (July 2008). After further stops in various cities throughout the world, it will end up as a permanent exhibition in Asmara.
Supporting Programme
The presentation at the Deutsches Architektur Zentrum will be accompanied by a supporting program. On the following dates, public lectures and panel discussions will take place to which you are also invited. Free entry.
Monday, October 2, 2006, 3.30 p.m. -5.30pm Asmara’s Modernist Architecture
Thursday, October 19, 2006, 7.30 pm-9.30 p.m. History and Politics of Eritrea
Thursday, November 2, 2006, 6 pm-9.30 p.m.Tourism and its Potential in Eritrea
Further information at and Pictures available on request.
Press contact:
Franziska Eidner
Deutsches Architektur Zentrum DAZ
Tel. 030 – 27 87 99 28
ASMARA – Africa’s SecretModernistCity
Exhibition October 3 – December 3, 2006
Opening: Monday, October 2, 2006, 7 pm
at Deutsches Architektur Zentrum DAZ, Berlin
Initiators & Organisers:
Project group Asmara in collaboration with Verein zur Förderung von Bildung und Publizistik zu Umwelt und Entwicklung e.V. (Solidarisch Leben Lernen)
Curators:
Dr. Naigzy Gebremedhin, former director CARP – Cultural Assets Rehabilitation Project of Eritrea
Prof. Dr. Omar Akbar, Director and Board President of Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau
Patrons:
-UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
-S. E. Petros Tseggai Asghedom, Ambassador of Eritreain Germany
-Dr. Uschi Eid, MdB, Board Member of Deutsche Afrika Stiftung
-UIA - Union International des Architects
-BDA - Bund Deutscher Architekten
Cooperative Partners:
-CARP (Cultural Assets Rehabilitation Project) Asmara, Eritrea
-Municipality of Asmara, Eritrea
-Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau
-Listros e.V.
-e1ns Entwicklungspolitik
Supported by:
-Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Germany
-GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit
-Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau
-Afrikaverein e.V.
-Vereinigte Spezialmöbel (VS)
-Drees und Sommer
-The Architects: Konstantin Kleffel, Regine Leibinger, Nina Nedelykov, Wolfgang Riehle, Dr. Eckart Rosenberger, Arno Sighart Schmid, Manuel Schupp
and many others
Das DAZ ist eine Initiative des Bundes Deutscher Architekten BDA. Es wird unterstützt durch das Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Arbeit.