The 'New Flower' - The modern city of Addis Ababa as a symbol of African union in the 1960s: Modernity in the spirit of decolonization and pan-Africanism

The 1960s marked the start of a new era for Ethiopia. While Africa was in the phase of decolonization, Ethiopia gained more importance due to its status as the only non-colonized country in Africa. In the context of these historical developments, the emperor Haile Selassie aimed to modernize Addis Ababa, which was supposed to be recognized on...

Reshaping identity: An architectural thesis about co-option of ‘tainted’ buildings by their successor regimes

The co-opting of buildings constructed by the Nazi regime is dependent on three different factors: the first is need for a resource that is scarce, the second is circumstance both political as well as economical, and the last is ideology. It is in ideology were the approach between east and west concerning their Nazi legacy greatly differs. For...

The phenomenon of expression in resort modernism of Soviet Lithuania: Western dream then, undesirable shadow now? Collective remembrance | national identity | “young” heritage

During thirty years of independent Lithuania, numerous iconic modern and postmodern buildings from the Soviet period had been demolished. Only in recent years architects and preservationists have started to protest and communicate the message of opposition to such activities but in most cases, it is too late to save an artifice.<br/>In the rich...

Identity within Diversity: Rethinking the notion of Megablock Planning Structures in the Metropolization process

This project displays an explorative attempt at redefining the megablock planning concept. The Greater Bay Area (GBA), as the site of interest, is undergoing rapid metropolization, with a risk of resulting in the formation of indistinguishable, generic urban structures. The fast development and the migration process have defined a region with...