A product of the Global Housing Research Seminar, the story of ‘Towards the Summit’ is the result of a micro-ethnographic research based on a student visit to Summit, in Addis Ababa. Through bold sketch-like graphics combined with architectural tools of investigation, this graphic novel not only represents the neighborhood’s architectural qualities and spatial relationships, but also reveals the hidden narratives of ordinary stories. The narrative follows a day in the life of Saba, a live-in house maid who works for a family residing in Summit. Accompanying her different tasks such as buying supplies, picking up the kids from school, or doing the laundry, the story journeys through different areas of the neighborhood and the resources it offers.
