Tinsae Tsegahun Mengistu is a Master of Arts student in Global African Studies at The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, specializing in Museum and Critical Heritage Studies. Originally from Ethiopia, she is an architect and curator whose research explores the built environment as a cultural and political archive, with a focus on postcolonial and post-occupation African architecture. Her work examines 20th-century African modernism, including Italian and Red Sea influences, and addresses the challenges of preserving, narrating, and critically engaging with lost or endangered architectural heritage. She is particularly interested in situating architecture within archival and museological frameworks and contributing to conservation practices that foreground memory, power, and historical context. Her research interests include postcolonial architecture, African modernism, critical architectural heritage, and transregional exchanges in 20th-century architectural production.
Academic Background
- Postgraduate Program, 3D Printing Architecture with Earth, Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), 2023
- B.Sc., Architecture, Addis Ababa University, 2020
Professional Experience
- 2020 – January 2026: Architect & Installation Designer, Alebel Desta Consulting Architects and Engineers, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- 2022 – January 2026: Curator & Researcher, ZigZag Space, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- April – May 2024: Resident Architect, Praksis Oslo Residency, Bali, Indonesia
- Research Highlights and Projects
- 2024-2025, Biennale College Architettura, La Biennale di Venezia – selected project participant
- 2024–2025, Beyond Body and Space, Goethe-Institut Ethiopia – curator and contributing architect, responsible for curatorial framework, spatial design, and exhibition coordination
- 2024, ET-302 Memorial Project, Addis Ababa – lead architect and editor of a 465-page publication documenting the memorial
- 2024, PraKSis Oslo Residency – “Bricking It: An Urgent Situation”, Bali, Indonesia
- 2023, Living Prototypes: 3D Printing Architecture with Earth, IAAC
- 2023, Innate Transformation: Brick-Based Material, ZigZag Space, Addis Ababa – co-facilitator of research workshop exploring brick as a biological and architectural medium
- 2021, New Beginnings: Urban Art – Inaugural Installation, International Architecture Awards, The Chicago Athenaeum, Addis Ababa
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