The master’s degree course in Architectural Engineering (MAEN) at the EiABC was created in 2017. It responds to the challenge of rapid urbanization and rural migration, which are leading to an immense socio-spatial reorganization of the country.

As the primate city in Ethiopia, the capital Addis Ababa has been the preferred aim for rural migrants for the past two decades. But the city is reaching its infrastructural and social limits. That is why existing secondary cities such as Awassa, Dire Dawa or Jimma with well over 100.000 inhabitants as well as emerging small and middle-sized towns need to be made fit to absorb the massive rural urban migration. Along with these urban transformations, environmental degradation also needs to be addressed. Finally, climate-friendly building practices need to play an important role in the education of a new generation of planners. Current construction practices are CO2-intensive by mainly using concrete and cement as well as design approaches that lead to high energy consumption.

The ECL-AA is responsible for MAEN's orientation towards these topics in terms of content and organization. The aim of the four-semester master's program is to train balanced and multi-layered generalists. Their training deals with national, regional and global topics on an architectural and urban level.

In the first semester students focus on practicing on small emerging towns of Ethiopia (2019 – Dobe and Kemsi Dikka). In the second semester, secondary and tertiary cities are the object of interest (2019 - Lakefront of Ziway). In the final two semesters, students work on their master thesis.

In summary, the MAEN program is the first of its kind in Ethiopia to integrate climate knowledge, sustainable building practices in design and construction, and the addressing of climate resilience on an urban scale.

Main teaching staff:

Ingo Helmedag, Zegeye Cherenet, Dirk Donath, Metadel Sileshi, Israel Tesfu, Ephrem Gebremariam, Tesfaye Hailu, Bisrat Kifle