La Pyramide
Rinaldo Olivieri · Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire · 1968
La Pyramide is one of Abidjan’s most distinctive experiments in tropical brutalism and mixed-use urban form. Rinaldo Olivieri stacked commercial floors, offices and other functions within a stepped concrete mass that widens toward its base, creating terraces and shaded circulation around the exterior. The building challenged the imported slab-and-tower model by proposing a more concentrated vertical market and civic object for the Plateau district. Though its condition and use have changed over time, La Pyramide remains a major reference in post-independence West African modern architecture.