Can we get 13 million new tiles please? Stunning £42m revival of modernist masterpiece in Africa Hall | Build

DAddis Ababa’s Africa Hall, designed by Italian architect Arturo Mezzedemi, quickly became known as one of the defining achievements of African modernism upon its completion in 1961. In 1963, it hosted the founding meeting of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the precursor to the current African Union. Africa was then emerging from centuries of colonial rule, and many of the founders of the Organization of African Unity – including Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana and Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt – had led their countries to independence.

Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie said at the time: “Only a few years ago, meetings were held to consider African problems outside Africa, and the fate of its peoples was decided by non-Africans. Today… the peoples of Africa can, at long last, deliberate on their problems and their future.”

Sitting in a spacious landscaped garden overlooking Addis Ababa, Mezzedimi’s design exuded a spirit of optimism, embodying functional clarity and spatial openness. Organized around a horseshoe-shaped public hall crowned by a spacious rotunda, its interior incorporated Carrara marble, Ethiopian stone, and elegant custom-designed Mezzedimi furniture. The artworks included a 40-metre-long mural illustrating the richness of African flora, by Italian painter Nini Sanguinetti Poggi, and a stunning triptych of huge stained glass windows by Ethiopian artist Afwerek Tekle.

This foundational site of modern African political history was commissioned by Selassie, who was then keen to implement an ambitious unified vision for the continent and his country. Ethiopia remains the only African country that has not been completely colonized by a European power. Along with Addis Ababa City Hall, also designed by Mizedimi – who has completed more than 100 buildings across the Horn of Africa – this was one of two major projects aimed at proving, in Selassie’s words, “that it is possible to erect grand buildings here too.” [in Ethiopia]”.

However, over the decades, like many structures of its time, Africa Hall fell into disrepair and disrepair. Following a decade-long £42 million restoration programme, completed in 2024, the refurbished building has once again become a symbol of African progress, and has been refurbished as an important venue for diplomacy and cultural exchange.

Africa Hall is still making history. The restoration project has just been awarded the World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize, the most prestigious award in the field of conservation of modernist heritage that is often underappreciated. It is the first time a building has been recognized in Africa since the biennial award was inaugurated in 2008. Previous winners include a concrete villa in Argentina, a French school dedicated to Karl Marx, and the restoration of Preston Bus Station (designed by Building Design Partnership in 1968, in collaboration with Danish architect Uwe Arup).

“Modern architecture embodies some of the most ambitious ideas of the 20th century, but its innovations also make these buildings vulnerable to the passage of time,” said Bénédicte de Montlaure, President and CEO of the World Monuments Fund. “The award was created to draw attention to these challenges and highlight exemplary conservation efforts around the world.”

The architectural team from Brisbane-based firm Architectus Conrad Gargett conducted exhaustive research into all aspects of the Mezzedimi’s original design. The entire facade has been reglazed to improve the building’s energy efficiency and structural integrity, while the surrounding landscape has been replanted with native African plants, and the terraces’ impressive fountains have been cleaned and refurbished.

The mosaic tiles had to be removed from the exterior to address structural deterioration, so 13 million new tiles were made, replicating the mosaic’s ornate shape and color schemes. More than 500 pieces of Mezzedimi’s signature furniture have been restored and restored. The project also addressed earthquake resilience, as earthquakes and volcanic activity are common in Ethiopia, and introduced new technology in ways that respected the modernist character of the building.

At the heart of the Africa Hall is Afwerk Tekle’s 1961 work, The Total Liberation of Africa – a sumptuous stained glass triptych depicting scenes from the continent’s history. Rich in color and allusion, it became an attractive backdrop for visits by dignitaries to Ethiopia, including the late Queen Elizabeth II of Britain in 1965. Tekle had previously studied at the Slade School of Art in London, and traveled around Europe for two years, learning how to design and build stained glass windows.

The stained glass pieces were originally made by the French artisan studio Atelier Thomas Vitraux; Emanuel Thomas, the grandson of the original maker, was recruited to help restore the panels. The thread of artistic connection from Africa Hall is strengthened by contemporary Ethiopian-American artist Julie Mehretu, who has drawn on Tekle’s work for her massive stained glass project at the Obama Presidential Center, scheduled to open later this year in Chicago.

“Africa Hall represents one of the most important expressions of modern architecture on the continent, a building that combined international ideas with local identity at a pivotal moment in the history of decolonization in the region,” said Barry Bergdol, the American architectural historian and curator who chaired the award jury.

“[Its] The restoration has allowed the clarity of Mazdimi’s design to speak again, revealing the ambition, craftsmanship and symbolic power that made the building a landmark of modernism and a continuing stage for African diplomacy.