ArchitectureAbidjan
La Pyramide (Plateau)
La Pyramide
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A 15-storey Brutalist building designed by the Italian architect Rinaldo Olivieri, begun in 1968 and finished in 1973, one of Plateau's first high-rises. The idea was to bring the bustle of an African market into a city building.
It embodies the optimism of the 'Ivorian miracle': open volumes for ventilation and precast panels for shade, modernism designed for the tropics. High maintenance costs and inefficient space later left it largely abandoned.
CE QUE VOUS VERREZ · What you will see
In the Plateau business district, a stepped concrete pyramid like a spaceship, with huge murals on its walls and almost nothing inside.POURQUOI · So what
It is one of the most cited buildings of 'African modernism'. In 2023 the Ministry of Culture's 'Pyramid 2023' project invited artists to paint its façades, and in 2026 an international architecture competition sought ideas to revive it. Its fate mirrors how Abidjan deals with its own past.SAVOIR-FAIRE · How to use it
Stand at its foot with guests who like architecture and tell the three stages, miracle, abandonment and artistic revival. It is a complete city story.Asian and European parallelsCompare the preservation debates over Japanese Metabolist buildings (such as the Nakagin Capsule Tower), or the arguments before and after Taipei's Zhonghua Market was demolished.
Where to experience itPlateau; easy to pair with St Paul's Cathedral and the Museum of Civilisations on the same day.
On these routes
Sources
Next card · 02 / 36Hôtel Ivoire