The £42m rebirth of Africa Hall, Addis Ababa

Designed by the Italian architect Arturo Mezzedimi and completed in 1961, Africa Hall in Addis Ababa quickly became a defining achievement of African modernism. It hosted the founding meeting of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963, as newly independent nations gathered to shape their future; as the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie said then, "Only a few years ago ...

meetings to consider African problems were held outside Africa, and the fate of its peoples were decided by non-Africans. Today … the peoples of Africa can, at long last, deliberate on their own problems and future." Mezzedimi’s design emphasised functional clarity and spatial openness, organised around a horseshoe-shaped plenary hall topped by a vast rotunda.

Interiors combined Carrara marble, Ethiopian stone and bespoke furniture, and the building was adorned with works such as Nenne Sanguineti Poggi’s 40-metre mural and Afewerk Tekle’s monumental stained-glass triptych, Total Liberation of Africa.

Ethiopia, Addis Ababa

africa hall, addis ababa, arturo mezzedimi, african modernism, oau, haile selassie, afewerk tekle, nenne poggi, carrara marble, stained glass