In Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, the construction of a new Lideta Market shopping center has been completed. The authors of the project - the young Catalan bureau Vilalta - are talking about the beginning of a new stage in the modern buildings of the city. Most of the markets and large stores in Addis Ababa were built according to the standard scheme - with glazing the entire surface of the facades. At the same time, there is almost no rain in the city. The commercial areas flooded with light, in which electricity and, as a result, with air-conditioning are regularly interrupted, are not the most comfortable for local residents. The new shopping center is strikingly different from its predecessors: the monumental rectangular building does not have a single large window. Symmetrical facades are “perforated” with small square windows and niches. According to the architects, their drawing was borrowed from the traditional landscape.

The total area of ​​Lideta Market is 14,200 square meters. m The unusual design of the facade borrowed from the classical Ethiopian fabric. The escalators habitual for shopping centers are replaced by a spiral staircase. The inner space of the shopping center is organized by a snow-white atrium.

The main functions of the unusual facade - protection from direct sunlight and control of ventilation. The white color of the building provides one of the types of so-called lightweight concrete. The upper tier of the building is actively involved: solar panels are located on it, which are designed to solve problems with the supply of electricity, as well as a system for collecting rainwater, for its further use in the basements there is a cleaning system.

The entrance to the Lideta Market is in the form of a deep arch with a niche.

Architectural bureau Vilalta, headed by Javier Vilalta (Xavier Vilalta), is located in Barcelona. Specialization - public architecture and interior design. For Vilalta, the current project in Ethiopia is already the third. In 2013, the construction of the hospital Woldyia, located in the north-eastern part of the country, was completed. Currently, a residential complex Entoto Houses is being built in Addis Ababa.