Sombre materials are used for this museum commemorating the deaths of over 50,000 opponents of the Dergue dictatorship between 1975 and 1980. Its location, Meskal Square, is where this Red Terror was publicly announced, and remains one of Addis Ababa’s main public spaces. Care was taken not to eclipse the adjacent Addis Ababa Museum. The zigzagging footprint of a 1970s stone amphitheatre was retained, and the stone reused. Reflecting the ancient Ethiopian practice of excavating space from rocks and mountains, a café, restaurant and function rooms were incorporated beneath the rebuilt amphitheatre. The main museum structure, in reinforced concrete poured on site into wood formwork, benefits from natural ventilation for climate control.
Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture
