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ETHIOPIA: Australia’s LAVA architect lands new soccer stadium

June 21, 2012 · 3069422 Comments2012-06-21+08%3A35%3A07Hassan+Ali

ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopian football and athletics fans will have a new FIFA and Olympic-standard 60,000 seat stadium in Addis Ababa thanks to a competition winning design combining local identity with new technology.

LAVA and Designsport, in collaboration with local Ethiopian firm JDAW, won the international architecture competition for a national stadium and sports village, held by the Federal Sport Commission, Ethiopia.

“We have gone back to the very origin of stadium design with a sunken arena surrounded by grandstands formed from excavated material,” said Chris Bosse, director of LAVA. “This man-made crater is a clever remodelling of the existing terrain and generates efficient spaces, optimises environmental performance, minimises construction costs and integrates facilities within the existing landscape.”

“The design references Ethiopia’s world-famous excavated architecture – centuries-old rock churches, dwellings and cisterns,” added Daniel Assefa, director of JDAW. “We see the sports city as a natural extension to this heritage, one that will draw many more visitors to our beautiful country.”

The façade material that wraps the stadium is inspired by the Massob, an Ethiopian communal serving basket made from woven grass, whilst the shapes of the facade system appear as coffee beans, the main source of income in Ethiopia. The roof of the stadium, an intelligent membrane, appears like a cloud on the horizon of the vast Ethiopian sky, a lightweight tensile structure floating over the formed-earth landscape.

Ethiopia’s new stadium in Addis Ababa

The masterplan includes the IOC-standard stadium for FIFA matches, athletics events, concerts, religious and national festivals; and a sports village comprising indoor and outdoor aquatic centres, outdoor pitches, sports halls and arenas, dormitories and the headquarters for the Federal Sport Commission. Hospitality, retail and commercial zones will ensure that the precinct is vibrant throughout the year.

Tectonic structures and movement are the underlying concept for the masterplan. The breathtaking beauty of the surrounding Entoto Hills is the backdrop to a design that responds to the volcanic geology of the region. Gently undulating urban parkland follows the lines of the crater and is conceived as a continuous spatial experience strategically activated to balance movement, climate, experience and efficiency. A central plaza forms the heart of the project and a ridge connects all zones.

Giant solar powered umbrellas provide shade and shelter whilst pedestrian activated light and water features appear as fissures in the ground surface, providing way finding and creating animated art works.

Bosse, who was one of the lead architects of the Beijing Watercube whilst at PTW architects, has again combined new technology with traditional architectural principles. The façade patterns are digitally created through parametric modelling and are built with local materials.

“We put together our culturally diverse team to produce an innovative concept,” said Samantha Cotterell, CEO of Designsport. “We are excited at the prospect of taking our expertise and translating it through the cultural lens of Africa.”

The construction of the stadium is expected to start in 2014.

Dexigner

June 21, 2012

Follow @somalilandpress

By Hassan Ali

Tags: Addis Ababa, Australia, Ethiopia, football stadium, LAVA, Olympic village, Soccer

seyoum777 says:

Addis Ababa, the New flower, is indeed blossoming.

3:09 am on June 21, 2012

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- Abraham Tanto says:
  
  That means a lot for we Ethiopians,it is very interesting project.
  We Ethiopians would go further if and only if we strived best of us and being devoted for our
  country untill the last drop of our potential.
  That's my comment as Ethiopian.
  
  6:48 am on June 22, 2012
  
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  - Villa Somalia says:
    
    Well,alot of Ethiopians i talk to such like Oromo Brothers don't even consider themselves as a Ethiopians.Nowadays Ethiopians are only Habasha orTigre Wayane the rest are unkown.The question is what will happen after Wayane flee fom Adis? lets watch and see who this time will lead Ethiopia.
    
    2:36 am on July 5, 2012
    
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Ayanle says:

Congratulation to Ethiopia ! with 90 million potential football fan they truly deserve it !!

4:07 am on June 21, 2012

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Kayse says:

I don't think Ethiopians will be able to fund it and this is just an architectural proposal.

4:16 am on June 21, 2012

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- Muqtaar says:
  
  ethopes never had fund to build good stadium may be This is another stunt,also hydro-electricity i have no clue who are They gone sell first kenyans probably will use south sudan oil since south sudan will export their oil Throught kenyan port.secondly somalia They don’t need hyro-electricity because There is enough energy from nature in somalia which is SUN,solar power is The way to go today we witnessing mogadishu is using solar power The rest of somali territory should follow it’s cheap clean.
  
  8:36 am on June 21, 2012
  
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  - jaale farmaajo says:
    
    i agree with you. we will never invest in Ethiopia, a money that will haunt us back whether the oppression of Muslims or Somalis in Ethiopia or invasion of our country. every intelligent Somali knows the progress of ethiohellia is the death of somalis
    
    8:45 am on June 21, 2012
    
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Hindi says:

Ethiopia unbound! Amazing what is going on in this country lately!! Many grand projects going on in transforming the country though the world still chooses to see the country in the lens of the past difficult time as the country was struggling to feed its people! I hope we are witnessing what we African can do. That will be the dry run before Ethiopia going to be Energy exporter (Hydro-electricity in 2015 and Oil in 2017). We East African (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Dijibuti, Kenya, S.Sudan) will make it soon just like the folks across the red see .

5:22 am on June 21, 2012

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- Jabuutawi says:
  
  "We East Africans…will make it soon just like the folks across the red sea".
  
  There is just one problem with the kumbaya, let us hold hands and praise the Lord statement (circus). Somalis want absolutely nothing to do with Ethiopia, period. To be more precise, Somalis want nothing to do with Amh@ra and T!grinya (sic).
  
  Is that clear enough for you?
  
  8:53 pm on June 21, 2012
  
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Hindi says:

To Kayse!
I guess Eth. has no serious funding issue. GG III (1.8 Bill US) and GMD (5.5 Bill US) projects are running full steam without a single cent either from lenders or donners. Money becomes an issue (lame excuse) only when there is no real commitment to do it. I always raise a question of commitment and determination when governments come up with list of reasons for not doing it. Often, money is among the list.

6:34 am on June 21, 2012

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- Ayanle says:
  
  Learn your lesson son ! They borrow money from
  The world bank and china. No east african countries
  Has that kind of money available.
  
  9:26 am on June 21, 2012
  
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jaale farmaajo says:

feed your Hungary people first before you build stadium. it will not give you good reputation if you build this.
what will give good reputation is to announce to the world you do not need anymore aid from them.
this so called country will and should not exist as it is there will be oromo land and somali terotory will decide whether to join Somalia or form a country as soon as dictatorship is finished. you cant hold people hostage all their lives. there will be a referendum as soon as people are free in this dump of a "country"

8:10 am on June 21, 2012

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PuntlandGeezer says:

plz let there be oil in puntland, somalia will become gold. every city in somalia will be rebuilt including hargeisa.

6:04 pm on June 21, 2012

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Jabuutawi says:

This is just an illustration. AIDS Ababa will never look like that in a thousand years.

8:42 pm on June 21, 2012

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Gambella Man says:

Kayse werent you a pro Somalilander and a friend of Ethiopia a while back? Recently i see youve developed some animosity for Ethiopia. I wonder what turned such a pan African into yet another one of our haters.

"I dont think Ethiopians will be able to fund it…"

You sound like a white man here. The same white man who said Ethiopia would economically collapse by 2000, the same white man who 150 years ago said Ethiopia would lose and be colonized by Italy. We have proven the white man wrong time and time again.

The 4 billion $ Nile river dam….Egypt had international funding for this project blocked. So Ethiopians are paying for it themselves. Ethiopians living abroad are buying bonds of 100$ and more to fund it. And if anyone loves statistics, the Ethio Somali (aka Ogaden) diaspora community of London at a meeting in march gathered over 180,000 pounds contributed to construct the dam:
http://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/news_archive/ethio…

And we Ethiopians know this project will benefit the Horn. So even Somalilanders, South Sudanese Eritreans and Somalians are permitted to participate.

(Warning to hater named Jabutti, the following news might give u horrible stomach pains)

The Djiboutian chairman of the Djibouti port understood the importance of the Dam, he handed a check for 1 million$ for the dam!
http://grandmillenniumdam.net/djibouti-largest-fo…

In fact statistic shows that nearly 10% of dam donations come from non Ethiopian citizens of the Horn of Africa!

I dont remember the number but there is a considerable sum given already from Somalilanders and Ethiopia diaspora community of Hargeisa.

So watch us. JUST WATCH US.

Ethiopia will build thedam. Ethiopia will build the stadium.

We will defeat poverty.

The question is are you with us or against us?

8:47 pm on June 23, 2012

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- Kayse says:
  
  My Gambella friend, indeed I was pro-Ethiopia and I loved Ethiopia more than Somalia because I was born in Ethiopia and I past most of my childhood in Ethiopia in Diredawa to Moyale to Gashaamo. However, my recent trip to the region changed my mind because the reality is there is no freedom there and they execute Somali people as they wish and there is no access to media or Right groups. So why should I support that?
  
  I was ignorant to the reality because I have not been to Ethiopia since Mengistu was ousted, now Ethiopia is like North Korea. Somalis had more freedom during Mengistu than today despite the fact that the two countries were in engaged in two big wars during his era, one under his rule (77).
  
  There is no way I will support Ethiopia under its current status, they did not even allow me to take a simple camera, the basic right of every human being to the Somali region to picture my extended relatives, live there and towns.
  
  They denied me that and I will tell the world about the reality about Ethiopia to everyone.
  
  Somaliland is my home also but we cant have Somalia divided as long as Ethiopians continue to execute my Somali people, so I will not allow the Ethiopians to dominate my people even more. If Somalia reunites, we will free the Somali people from the tyranny of Tigrays and Amhara junta.
  
  11:40 pm on June 23, 2012
  
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  - libban says:
    
    allahu akbar Kayse
    
    11:50 pm on July 6, 2012
    
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- Jabuutawi says:
  
  Against you.
  
  Do you even own land in Ethiopia? Most of your land is being sold to the highest bidders from Arab countries and the subcontinent, India in particular.
  
  1:54 am on June 24, 2012
  
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  - Gambella Man says:
    
    To us you are a cockroach. Your opinion doesnt matter. And since you dont represent Somalia, Djibouti or Somaliland (no matter how much you believe you do), you are just a worshipper of the dead siad barre, so you are a toothless barking dog hence your being against us is as much of a setback as a cardboard box on train tracks. We will bulldoze you over without even realizing it. Peace.
    
    10:56 pm on June 25, 2012
    
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- Guest says:
  
  Mekelle Man, neither the dam nor this stadium will be built. I suggest you use any money you have stolen in the name of Ethiopian people to prepare your escape.
  
  12:05 pm on June 29, 2012
  
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runeywaben says:

Well done to Ethiopia, our friends and neighbours of Somaliland. We will never forget how you saved our people from Somalia murderers in 1988. Ethiopia in our hearts forever!

Yichalal!

9:48 am on June 25, 2012

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11:28 am on November 22, 2012

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