Secular architecture
Ivorian architecture and habitat vary according to ethnic groups, regions, climatic constraints and foreign contributions and influences. Through a series of models, the Museum of Costume of the town of Grand-Bassam gives a fairly exhaustive overview of the different types of traditional architecture which, although different from one region to another, are nonetheless underpinned by two major characteristics: the technique used for construction, and the architectural form borrowed.
Three construction techniques can be distinguished. The first is pottery: the walls are then made of layers of earth modelled one on top of the other. The second uses basketry: branches planted in the ground, assembled together and covered with foliage and/or papo (palm leaf panels). Finally, the third and most common one combines the first two with walls made of banco (raw earth brick: adobe) and a generally conical roof made of papo, straw or thatch. Broadly speaking, there are two dominant types of architecture: the banco hut with a conical straw roof, of square or round shape, typical of forest or savannah areas, and the rectangular house in the Sudanese style, with a storey and/or terrace roof, mostly on the Kong and Bondoukou side. This type of housing is currently being modernized and, while cement is replacing the banco, the plant elements of the roof are being replaced by bricks and corrugated iron. This phenomenon is partly the result of the rapid urbanization and construction fever that has taken hold of the country, as well as a concern for rain and fire prevention. The traditional architectural identity of Ivorian towns and villages is being diluted in the anarchic proliferation of a façade modernism not always adapted to social realities and climatic constraints.
A mixed colonial legacy
The colonial heritage is more or less abandoned on Ivorian territory. The many buildings of the time, which are not without charm, have their decrepit facades in the eyes of passers-by who do not seem to be moved by them. Only in Abidjan or Grand-Bassam do people bother to maintain (and still do) these remains, where the regulations in force are theoretically aimed at preserving the overall harmony of the France district, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The former governor's palace in Grand-Bassam was recently transformed, after renovation work, into the National Costume Museum. It is located in Ancien Bassam, which is the historic heart of the city on the Ouladine lagoon. Other buildings there are benefiting from the restoration programme, such as the Maison des Artistes.Modernity
In the capital Yamoussoukro, the trend is towards gigantism in an ubiquitous manner, with a profusion of marble, precious wood and other gilding in the grand style, notably the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace
and the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Foundation, disparate elements of a bygone splendor that stand side by side in a landscape of urban savannah with vast areas of spontaneous housing, village neighborhoods, apartment buildings and strings of courtyard dwellings that remind us of the everyday realities of the population. The House of Deputies, which has become the parliamentary hotel offering prestigious rooms, unfolds its tiered structure in the form of a truncated pyramid. A geometric and almost abstract composition that contrasts with the ornaments of its facade and its arcades, whose pointed arches recall Islamic architecture.The architecture of the cities is resolutely contemporary. In Abidjan, the Plateau, the historic heart of the city is the proudly claimed showcase of the Ivorian economic miracle. A symbol of the country's great ambitions in the aftermath of independence, the business district at the time had some of the most modern architecture in Africa, earning it the nickname "Manhattan of the Tropics".
Another emblematic work of art of the Plateau, the Great Mosque Salam, signed by the architect Thierry Dogbo (1962-) in 1996. Of great beauty, it is built on a plot of about 7,500 m² and is said to be one of the largest in West Africa. This rectangular building has a minaret of sixty-five meters high and is topped by an imposing dome in blue and gold colors is covered with granite, ceramic and marble. So much so that it does not go unnoticed, in the heart of the business district.The great figures of architecture since independence
Several master builders have left their mark on the post-independence architecture of Côte d'Ivoire and contributed to giving its two capitals that special identity that still strikes the visitor today.
, which earned its designer the "Europe Architecture 1982" prize. Their singular triangularity contrasts with the verticality of this Babylon of business to which the Ivory Tower of the eponymous hotel, on the other side of the lagoon, is a glorious and lonely vestige of a pharaonic "African Riviera" project that was never completed.Henri Chomette (1921-1995), who was entrusted with the design of the centre of Abidjan, was the author of several large-scale projects combining elegance and monumentality, startingwith the Abidjan District Hotel
and the de Gaulle Bridge. The French architect also drew the plans for the Immeuble des Finances and the Nour al Hayat centre, which houses the Rotonde des Arts Contemporains. Pierre Dufau (1908-1985) designed the majestic presidential palace of the Plateau, inaugurated in 1961 on the occasion of the independence celebrations. Another prolific builder and shrewd businessman well known to the continent's eminent figures, the Frenchman of Tunisian origin Olivier-Clément Cacoub (1920-2008), known as "the architect of the sun", winner of the first Grand Prix de Rome in 1953, and author of numerous achievements in France and around the world, signed the presidential palace of Yamoussoukro as well as the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation and the Hôtel Président, still in the political capital.Contemporary architecture to the glory of business
A sign of the times and the gentrification of the country, the most beautiful and ambitious architectural achievements of recent years include large banking institutions, shopping malls, luxury real estate programs and business hotels. The headquarters of the pan-African group Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, developed around the symbolism of the Akan stool and the elephant, was officially inaugurated in July 2015. At the beginning of 2017, it was the turn of the Azalaï Hotel to unveil itself to the eyes of Abidjan's citizens. Both buildings were designed by the AR 2000 firm of architect Ibrahima Konaré (1963-), nicknamed the "bank builder," who claims works rooted in local culture.
Inaugurated in May 2016, the Radisson Blu Abidjan Airport, for its part, deploys its glass façade around a grid of metal beams evoking the branches of the rainforest.Architecture after the political crisis
Since the post-election crisis of 2010-2011, Abidjan has been undergoing a complete overhaul and this is also reflected in the change in the city's architectural physiognomy. The ambitious verticality of the 1970s and 1980s has been replaced by a sprawl of buildings with a refined, designer aesthetic, which is more respectful of environmental standards and less costly to maintain. However, the question of the appropriateness of horizontality - especially when it is not controlled, which is the case in most cases - is debated, and not all specialists agree on the issue.
The transformation of Abidjan is also reflected in the development of social housing projects and suburban neighborhoods, as well as the restoration of heritage, with the rehabilitation of emblematic buildings such as the Abidjan International Commercial Center (CCIA, 94 m, 28 floors), the Postel Tower 2001 (105 m, 26 floors) and especially the Saint Paul Cathedral
, which for several years had been a mere shadow of its former self.In terms of technical and aesthetic qualities and in view of their numerous achievements in Côte d'Ivoire and in several African capitals, the Koffi & Diabaté agency is positioned among the most prominent architects of the moment. Founded in 2001, its references include the superb Green building complex and the Onomo Abidjan Airport Hotel, built according to an ecological architecture combining local natural resources with building materials.
At a time when real estate operations launched without vision are multiplying, the firm Koffi & Diabaté conveys a vision of the African city, its needs and its layout where architecture gives a fundamental place to urban, human and local environmental issues. A vision that is still struggling to establish itself, but would benefit from being taken into account for the harmonious development of cities like Abidjan, which will have nearly seven million inhabitants by 2025.
