Emanuel Admassu, AD—WO

A lecture by Emanuel Admassu ’12 MSAAD ’13 AAR, Assistant Professor at Columbia GSAPP and founding partner, with Jen Wood, of AD—WO. He is also a co-founding board member of the Black Reconstruction Collective.

This lecture is hosted on the occasion of Columbia GSAPP’s Fall 2022 Open House. Response by Dean Andrés Jaque and Assistant Professor Ateya Khorakiwala.

Emanuel Admassu’s art, design, and teaching practices operate at the intersection of design theory, spatial justice, and contemporary African art. The work meditates on the international constellation of Afrodiasporic spaces. Most recently, he has been analyzing the socio-spatial identities of two urban marketplaces: Kariakoo in Dar es Salaam and Merkato in Addis Ababa. Admassu has previously taught at RISD Architecture and Harvard GSD. AD—WO’s work was featured in the exhibition Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America at the Museum of Modern Art. Their installation focuses on the immeasurability of Black spatial practices in Atlanta and the Atlantic.

This lecture will be held in person and is accessible to Columbia University affiliates with a valid green pass, and will be live-streamed for the general public on the GSAPP YouTube Channel.

This event content is equivalent to 1 AIA/CES total learning credit, 1 total credit earned. AIA. Please contact events@arch.columbia.edu for more information..

Image Credit: Immeasurability by AD–WO (Emanuel Admassu and Jen Wood) for Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America at The Museum of Modern Art. Duration: Feb 27—May 31, 2021