Economic Powerhouses in the Lagoon: a story of the bridges and skyscrapers of Abidjan and Lagos

This book chapter, that results from research done with the context of the CTRAAF project on transport architecture in West-Africa but also draws on ideas and approaches developed within the EOS project Construction History above and beyond, seeks to highlight parallels and differences in the making and shaping of post-independence Lagos (Nigeria) and Abidjan (Ivory Coast) by discussing the development of these post-independence infrastructural projects and architectural landmarks in both cities. It illustrates how they should be understood as partial continuations of late colonial masterplans in line with British and Francophone planning traditions, as well as the outcomes of new practices of planning, engineering, and building introduced by old and new foreign actors. Situating these bridges and skyscrapers in their respective lagoon landscapes, this essay finally asks whose urban aspirations they actually speak of and how they embody the agenda of these two emerging economic powerhouses in West-Africa in the late colonial and early post-independence years.