After gaining independence from France in 1956, the Tunisian authorities sought to demonstrate their desire to modernise the country. In the early 1970’s, Italian architect Raffaele Contigiani was commissioned to design a state of the art hotel in the brutalist style, the results of which leave a rare standing example of the brutalist movement in North Africa. The hotel closed in 2000 and has stood empty ever since whilst rumours of imminent demolition circulate. Many groups of artists and architecture lovers campaign to save this icon of Tunisian identity.
Hôtel du Lac
