“Hostels for Hope” is an international design competition organised by Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon®, a global partnership fighting women’s cancers. Akrem Ezedin, Henok Yared, and Emaelaf Tebikew from EiABC, who put forward their design for “home-away-from-home” for women with cancer in Tanzania won the first prize in the student category. This is the second time EiABC students won a first prize in an international design competition. Already in 2014 Aknaw Yohannes and Dagmawi Tilahun won the first price for their "Market in urban area in Africa” design for ARCHIGINEER AFRICA.

Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon®, along with the American Cancer Society, the George W. Bush Institute, HKS, Inc., Southern Methodist University (SMU), and T-MARC Tanzania, organized “Hostels for Hope”, an international architecture and design competition to find new ways of constructing “home-away-from-home” communities for women undergoing cancer treatment in Tanzania. The need is great, as thousands of women in the country are diagnosed each year with breast or cervical cancer. With only two centers in the whole country to treat them, women must either travel great distances and pay for lodging or, as many do, simply stay home and wait to die. The competition inspired both student and professional architects to use their ingenuity and creativity to design affordable, sustainable lodgings near the two health centers in Tanzania.

A team of students from the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC) created the winning design for a hostel at a second cancer hospital, Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) in Mwanza, the nation’s second-largest city, on the shores of Lake Victoria. The students are Akrem Abdurahim, Emaelaf Tebikew, and Henok  Yared.

The hostels that will be constructed based on the winning designs will house women who must travel long distances for cancer treatment at these two hospitals. “From 96 impressive competition entries, our jury selected six winning designs: three each from the student and professional categories,” said Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon Chief Executive Officer Celin Schocken. “We are thrilled to congratulate our winners, and to begin the process of turning their visions into reality to benefit women who need life-saving cancer treatment.”

The winning designs featured creative methods, fresh thinking, sustainable materials, and resourceful ingenuity. The competition sought inventive, aesthetically pleasing, and cost-effective alternatives to traditional, cost-prohibitive building designs.

Read more: http://pinkribbonredribbon.org/competition/winners/

Winners of Hostels for Hope Competition

The DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) is once again offering in-country/in-region scholarships for postgraduate studies in Eastern Africa. Successful Master and Ph.D. candidates will receive financial support to pursue their degrees

The duration of the Masters and PhD programmes sponsored is two and three years respectively generally starting in September 2017. Students already enrolled in the programmes can also apply for a scholarship for the remaining period.

A list of the postgraduate programmes eligible for in-country/in-region scholarships in Eastern Africa is available on the website of the DAAD Nairobi http://nairobi.daad.de/en/22515/index.html

The last university degree must have been completed less than six years ago at the time of application.

Interested candidates shall submit the following proof and documents by e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.:

All applicants

• Bachelor’s and / or Master’s degree qualification with at least above average results (university degree certificates)
• Proof of admission to the desired degree course or official letter assuring admission
• Curriculum vitae

For Master candidates only

• Academic reference from senior lecturer and proof of employment if applicable

For Ph.D. candidates only

• Ph.D. research proposal
• Recommendation letter by head of department indicating that you are a present or prospective member of staff

Submission deadline: February 10^th, 2017

A list with the pre-selected candidates will be submitted to the DAAD office in Nairobi until February 28^th, 2017, and the candidates will be asked to submit their application and all the required documents to DAAD via their web portal until March 22^nd, 2017. The final selection will be conducted through DAAD in mid-May.

A detailed information on the scholarship (documents to be submitted once pre-selected, duration and value of scholarship etc.) can be found here: ‘Information Sheet for Scholars, 2017/2018

The Design Week Addis Ababa festival aims to further the creative industries in Ethiopia. On January 14, 2017, EiABC in association with East Africa Holding (E.A.H) will host the ‘Architecture/Urban Planning’ theme.

The Design Week Addis Ababa (DWAA) has the goal to foster the economic potential of designers, creators, and innovators by showcasing their projects and products directly to the end users and commercial partners. The multidisciplinary festival in alignment with UNESCO’s Creative Cities initiative covers a variety of themes such as architecture and urban planning, industrial and interior design, fashion, visual communication, art and multimedia and other.

EiABC has taken on the role of organising and hosting the ‘Architecture/Urban Planning’ theme. The goal of the event is to create a discussion platform on the topic of Addis Ababa Becoming. It focuses on how Addis Ababa is changing at an ever faster pace with the consequences nearly impossible to determine.

The event will take place on January 14, 2017, and consist of two parts:

Part 1: 1pm - 3pm Exhibition at Swedish Pavilion, EiABC

The different Chairs of EiABC will exhibit designs and research that their faculty and students have developed related to the theme Addis Ababa Becoming. From urban and regional concepts to landscapes and built structures, from material research, sustainabilit, and environmental responsiveness approaches to socially, economically, and culturally sensitive designs.

Part 2: 4pm -7pm Panel Discussion and Cocktails at East Africa Holding Factory (opposite EiABC)

The discussion will focus on the topic of the necessary removal of industrial zones from the city, which have been laid down in the new master plan for the city. Since the East Africa Holding factory has for a long time been operating in Lideta it is taking the initiative to invite guests to contribute in the development of a vision on how to put the master plan idea into practice. The panellists will represent different aspects and viewpoints including environment, sustainability, housing, design culture and socio-economic factors.

Website Design Week Addis Ababa http://www.designweekaa.org/