Roofing in Eritrea

Eritrea runs from the Red Sea coast up to highlands where the capital, Asmara, stands at over 2,000 m (6,560 ft). Its rural houses traditionally had either flat soil roofs, on the stone hidmo, or conical thatch, on the round agudo. Asmara is a World Heritage city for its early 20th-century modernist architecture, which includes the cantilevered concrete wings of the Fiat Tagliero service station.

Climate and hazards

The highlands have a rainy season, while the coastal lowlands are hot and dry. A traditional soil roof needs a great deal of timber, and gathering wood is one of the biggest tasks in building a hidmo.

Roofing history

Traditional houses. The hidmo, a rectangular house of hewn stone and mud, is found in the highlands and parts of the eastern escarpment. Its roof is made by laying beams on the walls and on interior timber posts, covering them with rods and branches, and spreading soil on top (see Hidmo). Round huts with thatched conical roofs are called agudo (see Tukul).

Asmara. Asmara began as an Italian military outpost in the 1890s. Planning phases ran from 1893 to 1941, and a large construction programme followed after 1935. The resulting city combines eclectic and rationalist architecture on a grid adapted to the hilly site. UNESCO notes that, although modern materials and techniques were used, the buildings relied heavily on local methods, materials, skills and labour. Asmara was inscribed on the World Heritage List in July 2017.

A widely known roof in the city is the Fiat Tagliero service station of 1938, designed by the Italian engineer Giuseppe Pettazzi. Its two reinforced-concrete cantilevered wings each reach about 15 m (49 ft). Local authorities reportedly demanded supporting pillars; according to the story, Pettazzi refused, and the wings have stood unsupported ever since.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

• Hidmo: flat soil roof on branches, beams and interior posts.
• Agudo: round hut with conical thatch.

Notable roofs

• Fiat Tagliero, Asmara (1938): cantilevered concrete wings of about 15 m.
• Asmara's cinemas and public buildings: the Impero, Roma, Odeon, Capitol and Hamasien cinemas and the post office on Segeneyti Street are among the listed modernist buildings.

Local roofing terms

• hidmo: stone house with flat soil roof.
• agudo: round thatched hut.
• dembe: roofed animal shelter of the hidmo.

Sources and gaps

No national building or roofing code was found in published sources. No information on domestic roofing manufacturers was found.

The coral-stone and Ottoman-era buildings of Massawa, ancient sites such as Qohaito and Adulis, and modern roof-material statistics: published information is limited.