Eritrea’s Picturesque Capital is Now a World Heritage Site

BY TOM GARDNER | QUARTZ AFRICA In 1996 a German architecture firm proposed razing historic buildings in the centre of Asmara, one of Africa’s most beautiful cities, to make way for glass high-rises. Eritreans, who are deeply proud of their capital’s Italian-era modernist architecture, began to worry that their hard-fought heritage was under threat.

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RIBA Hosts Presentation on Asmara – Africa’s Modernist City

BY EMBASSY MEDIA It is to be recalled the Royal Institute of British Architects had on the night of December 6th, 2016 awarded the President’s Medal for Research. The 2016 RIBA President’s Medal for Research was then presented to Dr. Edward Denison, Eng. Medhanie Teklemariam and Eng. Dawit Abraha for their project ‘Asmara – Africa’s […]

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Eritrea’s Capital, a.k.a the ‘Miami of Africa’, Could Become Africa’s Next World Heritage Site

By Mail & Guardian, Be prepared to be surprised. Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea, has one of the largest collections of modernist architecture in the world, impressive features that bolster the application made on February 1 for it to be listed as a World Heritage site. 

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Eritrea’s Unique Architecture under Threat

By Jenny Vaughan (AFP), ASMARA — Eritrea’s capital Asmara boasts buildings unlike anywhere else in Africa, a legacy of its Italian colonial past, when architects were given free rein for structures judged too avant-garde back home. Modernist architectural wonders in this highland city include a futurist petrol station mimicking a soaring aircraft and a funky […]

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