ETHiopia Urban Laboratory (2010)
ETHiopia Urban Laboratory - Sommerakademie 2010
ETHiopia Urban Laboratory SummerSchool - sustainable housing for the World's Poorest
25. Juni - 18. Juli 2010, Ort: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Ethiopia has one of the fastest growing population in the world and needs housing solutions. The ETH Zurich and the EiABC Addis Ababa have a solution that can curb dangerous trends and proliferate itself on its own.
Within the next 15 years, Ethiopia will be confronted with an additional 45 mil- lion people, along with the basic needs of food, water, safety, and shelter in not yet existing – or already overstressed – urban settlements. To address these challenges, innovative approaches are desperately needed.
Together with the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC), the ETH Zurich initiated the ETHiopia Urban Laboratory Summer School, with the goal of spreading knowledge and finding solutions related to sustainable urban housing.
During the first week, local and external experts gave lectures on the broader themes of architecture and construction, water and sanitation, and entrepre- neurship. In the ensuing two weeks, the students – all future architects, envi- ronmental engineers, scientists or economists – worked on practical tasks.
These case studies were related to the Sustainable Urban Dwelling Unit (SUDU), a two-story, low-cost house built with local materials and local labor, which ser- ves as a research prototype for urban housing solutions in Ethiopia and other developing nations. The architecture students worked on the SUDU construc- tion site, while the environmental engineers and scientists proposed a design for a wastewater treatment plant for the SUDU and the entrepreneurs drafted a business plan for loam bricks, a major component of the SUDU.
During the three-week course, students from Ethiopia and ETH Zurich sought to understand the current trends and future problems regarding the housing needs of a developing country, while generating the tools and ideas to help solve them. The final presentations illustrated that these students – regardless of their backgrounds – gained knowledge and skills that will help them to find sustainable solutions for the future demands of their pursuits in urban design.
Further information
ETH Life article about the summer school
African Technology Development Forum about architecture
Watch the documentary film about the summer school
The ETHiopia Urban Laboratory SummerSchool was jointly carried out by the D-ARCH, especially the BLOCK Research Group, EIABC, ETH North-South Centre and ETH Sustainability.
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