From experimental buildings to "Emerging City Lab Addis Ababa"

On 9 July 2015, the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) signed an agreement on a joint research institute.

The "Emerging City Lab Addis Ababa" shall continue as a joint research institute the idea of experimental buildings that have been implemented over the past six years as part of a research and training cooperation in the Ethiopian capital.

Prof. Dirk Donath, who will coordinate in the next three years the setup of the "Emerging City Lab Addis Ababa," explains the agreement: "Weimar and Addis Ababa cooperate in the fields of architecture, structural design and urban planning since many years. The results of the experimental research studies were related mainly to the optimization of building types and constructions. In the future, the research laboratory will integrate urban, social, structural design, technical and infrastructural aspects. The cooperation between EiABC and Bauhaus Universität Weimar is now on a broad, interdisciplinary basis. Core of the cooperation will be the joint research, with an integrated training in the master and doctoral studies. Experimental means, that we will build what is researched. In addition to this, the exchange of students, lecturers and PhD students, field trips and industrial cooperation is planned. "

After signing the contract between both institutions, EiABC Scientific Director Joachim Dieter handed over the 2014 Addis Ababa University Distinguished Research Award for Excellence in Research to Prof. Dirk Donath on behalf of AAU President Dr Admasu.