Africa Hall is the permanent headquarters of the

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA or ECA; , CEA) was established in 1958 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council to encourage economic cooperation among its member states (the nations of the Africa, African contin ...

(UNECA) based in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. The structure, built in the span of only 18 months, was completed in February 1961. It covers an overall area of 75,000 m², with a usable area of 13,800 m², consisting of 3,600 m² of conference halls, 5,500 m² of offices and 4,700 m² of general facilities. Its main characteristic is represented by the "continuous spaces" of the internal layout. Ten years later, in 1971, work was commenced on a project funded by the United Nations to extend the structure, which was completed in 1975. It consists of a block of 800 new offices, a 6-storey building to house the huge library and other buildings for general facilities. This extension work added a further 130,000 m². Along with the Addis Ababa City Hall, Africa Hall was one of the two projects designed to demonstrate, in the words of Emperor

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

, “that it is possible to construct grand buildings here too n 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”. It was here, in this conference center, that the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

's predecessor, the

Organization of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...

(OAU) was founded on 25 May 1963. Also in this building is Afewerk Tekle's most famous work, ''Total Liberation of Africa'', a 150 m² stained glass triptych. The work depicts images symbolizing African nations uniting to tackle poverty and disease. Also designed by Afework Tekle are the geometric design surrounding the central window, reminiscent of patterns of traditional ''

shema ''Shema Yisrael'' (''Shema Israel'' or ''Sh'ma Yisrael''; , “Hear, O Israel”) is a Jewish prayer (known as the Shema) that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. Its first verse encapsulates the monothe ...

'' clothing, which was added after the original design of the building to commemorate a construction worker that died during its construction.

United Nations Conference Centre

The United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC) has two main conference halls offering a combined space of 2,000 m² with a total capability of hosting close to 1300 participants. The main hall can host completely separate events or be linked electronically for a fully coordinated conference. In addition to the two main halls, the United Nations Conference Centre also has four additional conference rooms with a capacity for citing up to 115 people each. There are also ten caucus rooms used for break out sessions that can seat between 22 and 32 people: and two briefing rooms with a seating capacity of 44 and 64 people. Building designed and works supervised by Studio Valle Progettazioni, headquartered in Rome

References

External links

{{Commons category
United Nations Economic Commission for AfricaWebsite of Arturo Mezzedimi
Buildings and structures in Addis Ababa 1961 establishments in Ethiopia Government buildings completed in 1961 20th-century architecture in Ethiopia African Union–Ethiopia relations