La Pyramide is a high-rise building located in the Plateau area of

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

, the largest city in

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. Construction of the building began in 1968 and was completed in 1973. It was designed by Italian architect

Rinaldo Olivieri Rinaldo may refer to: *Renaud de Montauban (also spelled Renaut, Renault, Italian: Rinaldo di Montalbano, Dutch: Reinout van Montalbaen, German: Reinhold von Montalban), a legendary knight in the medieval Matter of France * Rinaldo (''Jerusalem Lib ...

who aimed to capture the activity of an African market in an urban setting. It is one of the most famous buildings in Abidjan for its distinctive architecture and one of the first high-rise buildings built in the Plateau area at the time of the Ivorian miracle. Expats and other Ivorian elite from Abidjan resided in the body of the pyramid, while the ground floor was reserved for shops and boutiques. When it was deserted at the onset of political troubles and because of its inefficient ratio of rentable space to circulation, the building deteriorated considerably from the 1990s and became dangerous during the 2000s. A program for complete renovation of La Pyramide was announced by the Ivorian government in 2011, through an offer of public-private partnership. The cost of the renovation is expected to be around 18 billion

CFA francs The CFA franc (french: franc CFA, , Franc of the Financial Community of Africa, originally Franc of the French Colonies in Africa, or colloquially ; abbreviation: F.CFA) is the name of two currencies, the West African CFA franc, used in eight We ...

and aims to make the Pyramide a tourist attraction. To date actual renovation are yet to be carried out.

References

Buildings and structures in Abidjan 1973 establishments in Ivory Coast Office buildings completed in 1973 {{Abidjan-geo-stub