Emanuel Admassu

Emanuel Admassu (’12 MSAAD, ’13 AAR) is an architect and assistant professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP). He teaches design studios and theory seminars in architecture and urban design. Prior to joining GSAPP, he taught at the Rhode Island School of Design and Harvard GSD. He is also one of the founding board members of the Black Reconstruction Collective.

Admassu’s work focuses on spatial justice and African urbanism. His art and architecture practice AD—WO—in partnership with Jen Wood—investigates how race and space are constructed through practices of imaging and measuring. Their work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale (2023), the Chicago Architecture Biennial (2023), the Museum of Modern Art (2021), Architekturmuseum der TU München (2018), and the Studio Museum in Harlem (2017). AD—WO’s work is part of the permanent collections at the Art Institute of Chicago and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

Admassu is the co-editor of Where Is Africa (with Anita N. Bateman; CARA, 2024), an anthology of interviews, essays, and artworks concerned with the dominant (mis)positioning of the arts in and on Africa.

Work

Bole Rwanda by AD—WO.

Containment and Immeasurability by AD—WO, “Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art New York

Free Bricks by AD—WO.

Immeasurability by AD—WO, “Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art New York

Immeasurability (detail) by AD—WO, “Reconstructions: Architecture and Blackness in America” exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art New York

Ketchene by AD—WO.

Two Markets by AD—WO.

Merkato Tapestry by AD—WO.

The Back Room by AD—WO.

Two Markets Installation by AD—WO.

“100 Links” installation at the 5th Chicago Architecture Biennial by Buell Center and AD—WO. Image courtesy of Tom Harris and the Chicago Architecture Biennial.

“Ghebbi” by AD—WO for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023, The Laboratory of the Future, curated by Lesley Lokko.

Where is Africa (CARA, 2024) co-edited with Anita N. Bateman. Photos courtesy Justin Lubliner.

Courses

Course	Semester	Title	Student Work	Instructor	Syllabus	Requirements & Sequence	Location & Time	Session & Points	Call No.
A4047‑1	Fall 2024	Immeasurable Sites		Emanuel Admassu		Urban Design Seminar Real Estate Elective HP Elective Architecture Elective UP Elective Urban Design Elective	408 AVERY W 11 AM - 1 PM	FULL SEMESTER 3 Points	10596
A4105‑11	Fall 2024	Advanced Studio V		Emanuel Admassu		Architecture Studio AAD Studio Architecture Required	600 + 700 AVERY	FULL SEMESTER	10382