When accessing the city of Plateau via Chardy Avenue, the white buildings, vestiges of the colonial past, are eclipsed by ultramodern buildings. The Agricultural Production Price Stabilization and Support Fund (Caistab) building houses the Ministry of Agriculture and the Coffee-Cocoa Council. It is one of the first towers in Abidjan's landscape built after independence. Quite a symbol, intended by President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, to highlight the importance of agriculture in the economy of Côte d'Ivoire. A few meters from Caistab is Postel 2001, with a pink glass facade, built in the early 1980s. Modern and sparkling.
Architectural landscape on postcards
In this post-independence context, where the country benefits from a favorable economic situation, Houphouët wants to make Abidjan the showcase of a prosperous Africa. Several public and private projects are being created in Planalto, a business district. This is the case of the Pyramid, also located a few meters from the first two buildings. These buildings, which have long marked the architectural landscape of Abidjan, then appeared on postcards.
Due to its shape and brutalist architecture, the Pyramid still stands out from its surroundings today. And yet, it fits perfectly. Designed by Italian architect Rinaldo Olivieri and built between 1968 and 1973, the building is today part of the Ivory Coast's heritage. Although Olivieri worked for around ten years in Abidjan and built other buildings there, the Pyramid remains his best-known work. Even today, it is the subject of theses in architecture schools and appears in specialized books as an example of the Brutalist style, popular between the 1950s and 1970s. It features raw concrete, without coating, and aluminum slats on its exterior. .
Iconic figure of the Plateau
“Even today, the La Pyramide building, which marked several generations, is one of the most important iconic figures in the city. It is a bridge between the present and the past and the consequences, despite the ravages of time, a building emblematic futurist”, confides Jacques Ehouo, vice-mayor of Planalto. Despite the layer of pollution that, over the years, has tarnished the shine of the slats and plants that grow on certain floors, the structure of the building itself has resisted time quite well, experts agree. Fifty years after the building's construction, architect Issa Diabaté observes that it has “aged well”. “When you’re outside, you don’t see any glass. These are protected by aluminum slats that block the sun and prevent direct radiation onto the glass. It is a building that works very well from a bioclimatic point of view”, he analyzes. Several other creations from this period in Abidjan have in common this vision of using local materials and organizing the rooms in a way to optimize ventilation and light.
Upon entering the entrance, two aluminum stairs are evident, connecting the hall to the upper floors. They are dominated by chandeliers, also metallic. Triangular in shape, the guidelines are provided in the particularity of several columns that open towards the top, forming the pyramid. After several years of disuse, signs of wear began to appear. Rainwater infiltrates and stagnates inside the building, closed to the public. Traces of its last occupants are still visible. “Flash Service”, we can read at that time as one of the gallery’s businesses. He offered, among other things, shoemaking services. A little further away there was an “investment club”, where you could receive “entrepreneurial advice”. In one of the offices on the upper floor, visible from the outside, piles of documents are piled up. Archives from a past that may disappear due to lack of conservation.
A small and discreet plaque records the name of the building, its architect and its promoter. The Ivorian Society of Economic Participations (Socipec SA) initiated it and the State provided management of the project. The latter was, in fact, a shareholder of Socipec. This data will be important later, in the long battle between the government and private developers over ownership of the building, explaining why it was abandoned for years.
Commercial building and panoramic view
For the project's initiators, in the 1970s, the idea was to build a commercial building in the center of the Plateau, long before the order of these temples of consumption in Abidjan. In an advertising leaflet at the time, addressed to future occupants, Socipec presented the “La Pyramide shopping center” as “an original creation rented at unbeatable prices”.
The building has ten levels, distributed as follows: three, in the cave, are organized as a garage and supermarket; two are dedicated to shops and offices. The building also housed a restaurant, a nightclub and studios, according to the original plan. “Some studios planned on the upper levels are designed and treated with the refinement of Italian taste. Everyone enjoys a panoramic view, benefiting from large protected balconies and all modern comforts”, we can also read.
Until the end of the 1990s, the Pyramid functioned as a city within a city. We must, therefore, imagine it full of people and lively, fully integrated into the life of the Planalto. It later housed some public services, before being definitively abandoned. In addition to its degraded state, it no longer meets safety standards. But until the question of its legal ownership was resolved, any attempt at renewal was doomed to failure.
Paintings and graffiti
In November 2016, the Ivory Coast authorities approved a decree declaring the building to be of public use, in order to return it to its heritage. Thus, after announcing that an agreement had been reached, without specifying its contours, and declaring that La Pyramide was “once again owned by the State of Côte d'Ivoire”, the Minister of Construction, Bruno Koné, visited the building in August 2021.
This visit active I had many hopes of seeing the Pyramid revived. But, almost two years later, nothing has changed. Therefore, the artists decided to draw attention to the building through the “Pyramid 2023: tomorrow is born” initiative. Several paintings were done on the exterior walls. Some wave to the building representing some of its characteristics. Others, very colorful, contrast with the rather austere appearance of the building. Pascal Konan, Aboudia, the Spaniard Dourone, and Amah Cynthia Dongo, as well as students from the Instituto Superior Nacional de Artes e Acção Cultural (Insaac) performed on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Pyramid, last April. The ceremony took place in the presence of Bruno Koné, the Minister of Culture, Françoise Remarck, and the mayor of Plateau, Jacques Ehouo.
Property dispute
Will this have been enough? If, at the moment, no official announcement has been made about the future of the Pyramid, one thing is certain: its destruction is not on the agenda. The Minister of Construction also wanted to provide reassurance on this matter. Although it is undeniably an architectural gem, the building itself would be less profitable today due to the land on which it is located. If it housed, for example, a hotel. Several possibilities are available to the government for its reform and operation. In 2015, authorities reached an agreement with the Spanish company Barranco Del Rey as part of a public-private partnership. But given the dispute over the building's ownership, this agreement has reached the design phase.
Among the renovation projects is the proposal by Francis Sossah, architect of the Palais de la culture. He who advised several ministers would like to make it a place… of culture. He is responsible for a project called the Pyramid of Modern Arts and History of Abidjan (PAMH'A). This would allow, secondly, to obtain a larger space for the current museum, to house repatriated works and to store and preserve the pieces. The lodge could also accommodate resident artists. The project has a conference room, panoramic restaurant, offices and library. According to the architect, a renovation without equipment could cost at least 25 billion CFA francs, for the building's 25 thousand m2.
Promote local artists
“We are part of a heritage vision”, explains the architect, who adds: “In addition to the correct Pirâmide restaurant, which is already a heritage act, this approach must continue with cultural objects. The recent activity of artists in the building proves that its final destination can only be as a place of culture and exchange. »
A vision shared by many stakeholders, including the city president: “In the middle of all these scraps of concrete and glass, a space dedicated to art aimed at the business city. In particular, it will allow local artists to collaborate, offering them a space to exhibit their work, whether emerging or established. The Pyramid in its new life will also contribute to making the Plateau an oasis of culture in greater Abidjan, by offering a meeting and sharing space with shops, restaurants, cafes with terraces, etc. economic growth of the city, while promoting the culture and heritage of Côte d'Ivoire. »
After several discussions with the management of the ministries involved, Francis Sossah continues to defend his project. He sent letters to the authorities asking them to transform the Pyramid into a museum and is leading, with Moma and the Ottawa Museum, the work to restore the works. If his project is selected, he hopes to reach an agreement to develop it until the end in oh, year.
