Anna Positano

Photographer

Works

  • Architecture
  • Interiors
  • Cities
  • Building Sites
  • Installations and Things

Publications

  • Magazines
  • Books

Projects

  • Sedimenta
  • Skopje. A Transitional Model
  • Right Here
  • Spaghetti Junction
  • Bagài
  • Addis Ababa. The Awakening City
  • When We Were Kids, It Was a Missile Base
  • Night Walks
  • Growth
  • Singular Memory in the Collective Building

Info

  • Bio
  • Cv
  • Contact

Addis Ababa. The Awakening City

According to the United Nations’ predictions, the population of Addis Ababa will increase from approximately 4 million to 8 million by 2025. Hence the Ethiopian government has already taken action with urban redevelopment occurring across the capital.

A ‘Sleeping Beauty’ for decades, in the words of Haile Selassie, Ethiopian society is now living the American dream. The new middle class can afford a car and a house in the peripheral areas, shopping at the malls, and dining out in restaurants. Western imagery fosters the renovation of the city, although the American dream is carried out by the Chinese, the most influential among the international investors.

Despite the importance of urban development, there are still unsolved contradictions within society and questions rise about the sustainability of modernization. In Addis Ababa too many citizens do not have access to drinkable water, health cover and education. A large part of the population live in slums, which cover 80% of the overall built surface. New infrastructures are planned without any regard to natural or urban surroundings. Water and air pollution is an issue, and yet there are no strong environmental policies.

This series of photographs aspires to be a look at the process of modernization of Addis Ababa, along with its traditional features. Most of the images are intentionally from a distance, in order to widen the proportion of urban interventions and provoke a sense of loss. At the same time the presence of people provides a more human proportion. The depiction of the most vernacular of places is more intimate and intends to be juxtaposed with the modern city.

[2013]

positano_pr_AA_01
La Gare, railway station. Originally called “Compagnie du Chemin de Fer Franco-Ethiopien”, the Ethio-Djibouti Railway that used to link the port of Djibouti to Addis Ababa has not been working since 2006.
positano_pr_AA_02
positano_pr_AA_03
A survivor Italian house in the historical neighbourhood of Piazza, near Churchill Avenue. The slums were torn down in order to make space for new modern buildings.
positano_pr_AA_04
River and slum at Piazza.
positano_pr_AA_05
Taxi driver. Lada taxis are a legacy of the Derg regime. They are painted in blue and white.
positano_pr_AA_06
Bathroom entrance in the room of the Empress Menen Asfaw, Haile Selassie’s wife.
positano_pr_AA_07
The Ethio-China Road, one of the most prominent arteries of the city.
positano_pr_AA_08
Torhayloch roundabout. Here it will be the end of the line of the Light Railway, to be built by Chinese corporations.
positano_pr_AA_09
The largest construction site of the Light Railway, at Menelik II square.
positano_pr_AA_10
Panorama over the Hilton Hotel and Bole. The green and yellow fences delimit a huge construction site, after an informal settlement was demolished.
positano_pr_AA_11
positano_pr_AA_12
Boys playing soccer at Meskel square. In the early morning there are runners undertaking their training on the tracks. During the Derg regime this square held parades and other political gathers.
positano_pr_AA_13
Bethel, construction site.
positano_pr_AA_14
Bethel, young woman staring at her new house.
positano_pr_AA_15
Bethel, communal garden.
positano_pr_AA_16
Abandoned framework in the new neighbourhood of Bethel at Kolfe Keranio, in the western part of Addis Ababa.
positano_pr_AA_17
Bethel, new house.
positano_pr_AA_18
The recordings of Ethiopia’s Got Talent at Desalegn Hotel.
positano_pr_AA_19
Car showroom near Merkato.
positano_pr_AA_20
Road works near Merkato.
positano_pr_AA_21
Construction sites on the way to La Gare.
positano_pr_AA_22
Bar at Piazza.
positano_pr_AA_23
Council houses in Lideta.
positano_pr_AA_24
Young woman bringing traditional coffee to a construction site near the government headquarter.
positano_pr_AA_25
Works in Bole road.
positano_pr_AA_26
Ethiopian National Theatre.
positano_pr_AA_27
Traditional tej bar at Old Airport, where Selassie’s military élite used to hang out. Tej is a homemade honey wine, sweet and with a high alcohol content.
positano_pr_AA_28
Juventus Club near Meskel square. It is an Italian sport club established in the Fifties.
positano_pr_AA_29
Front porch of a private house at Old Airport.
positano_pr_AA_31
Former military training camp at Old Airport.
positano_pr_AA_32
Map of the world of a shipping company at the railway station.
positano_pr_AA_33
The redevelopment of Merkato - the largest open market in Africa.
positano_pr_AA_34
According to the plans the shacks will give way to the multi-storey shopping malls.
positano_pr_AA_35
School at Merkato.
positano_pr_AA_36
Eucalyptus trees on Entoto Mountain. Builders use eucalyptus wood for scaffoldings.
positano_pr_AA_37
Young vendor on the way to Entoto Mountain.
positano_pr_AA_38
Panorama of Addis Ababa from Entoto. Entoto is the place where Menelik II decided to move his palace. The urban expansion has bypassed this area.