Addis Ababa City Hall

The Addis Ababa City Hall (Amharic: አዲስ አበባ ማዘጋጃ ቤት) is a governmental department that houses the offices of the Municipality of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Addis Ababa City Hall
አዲስ አበባ ማዘጋጃ ቤት
Location within Ethiopia
General information
Type	Municipal building
Architectural style	Modernism
Location	Addis Ababa
Country	Ethiopia
Coordinates	9°02′05″N 38°45′03″E
Elevation	7,726 feet (2,355 m)
Current tenants	Government of Addis Ababa
Construction started	1961
Completed	1964
Height	42 m
Technical details
Floor area	140,000 m2
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Arturo Mezzedimi
Main contractor	ETBURG - Salvatore Rizza & Cesare Battisti

History

Along with Africa Hall, the UNECA headquarters, the Addis Ababa city hall was one of the two projects designed to demonstrate, in the words of Emperor Haile Selassie, “that it is possible to construct grand buildings here too [in Ethiopia], by erecting a couple of high-profile structures. It is not their complexity or size that matter, but the maximum possible use of home-produced materials, in order to shake our wealthy middle class (which keeps its money under the mattress) from the inactivity that also binds it in the field of construction, and stimulate it to invest its assets also in building to make this ‘great village’ a city and a true great capital”. Construction commenced in 1961 and was completed in 1964. Queen Elizabeth II received the freedom of the city on 4 February 1965 in a ceremony here, and attended a banquet in her honour that day.

Features

The structure is situated at the northern end of Churchill Avenue, and is a direct consequence of the avenue's re-routing, sitting on top of a hill overlooking the thoroughfare. The structure features various spaces – the hall, boardroom, reception room, cinema-theatre, restaurant, 4 bars, library, and panoramic terrace – making it a social as well as an administrative centre.