Asmara: Africas Secret Modernist City

Asmara, the capital of the small East African country of Eritrea, bordering the Red Sea, is one of the most important and exciting architectural discoveries of recent years. Built almost entirely in the 1930s by the Italians, who transformed it into a hotbed of radical architectural innovation, Asmara has one of the highest concentrations of Modernist architecture anywhere in the world. This superb building-by-building survey, illustrated with previously unpublished archival material and specially commissioned photography, chronicles the colonial past and remarkable survival of a city that has evocatively been described as “the Miami of Africa.”

Edward Denison has contributed to Asmara: Africas Secret Modernist City as an author.Edward Denison originally visited the country as a student of architecture.Edward Paice is a full-time author with interests in history, natural history and Africa. Guang Yu Ren has contributed to Asmara: Africas Secret Modernist City as an author.Edward Denison is a design consultant, writer and photographer, whose work focuses on preservation and regeneration in the built environment. Bridging academic and practical disciplines, his work in Africa, Asia and Europe includes consulting for international agencies in heritage conservation, authoritative books on design and architecture, and internationally published architectural photography and writing.

Guang Yu Ren is an architect and independent consultant. Having practised in China for several years, she moved to Australia to augment her design education. Since then, she has worke