It is likely that [Gashaw Beza] had first encountered the ideas of Brutalism while studying in socialist Yugoslavia. … the Brutalist new building, constructed using the concrete shell sleeve process, which soars above the villa at a suitable distance like a castle, can be viewed as a stylistic and political statement. Excerpt from Michaela Meise’s article in: SOS Brutalism: A Global Survey. Catalog DAM + Wüstenrot Foundation, Zurich (Park Books) 2017

The National Museum building stood empty for twenty years after completion. While structural damage increased, no funds were available on the part of the state for repairs. Only after the overthrow of the socialist military regime by various rebel groups in 1991 and the establishment of a coalition government was the museum collection finally able to move into the new building in 2001. One year later damage on the roof and in the interior space was repaired. The original design by Gashaw Beza allowed for an empty concrete niche for the area above the main entrance, corresponding to a display area that ranged over two floors in the interior space. Since 2007 this exterior wall of the museum has displayed a mosaic by the artist Merikokeb Berhanu. Excerpt from Michaela Meise’s article in: SOS Brutalism: A Global Survey. Catalog DAM + Wüstenrot Foundation, Zurich (Park Books) 2017

This building was included in the red list, published in our exhibition catalog SOS Brutalism: A Global Survey (September 2017). After a status review on December 4, 2024, it was reclassified in the online database from red (endangered) to gray (least concerned / unknown).