Hôtel du Lac

As a modern architecture building type, hotels are especially endangered, due to the ever-present fear of being perceived as dated and failing to attract customers.  Many remarkable mid-century hotels have been drastically altered, abandoned, or demolished.  The eye-popping Hôtel du Lac exemplifies President Habib Bourguiba’s effort to give Tunis a modern face after Tunisia gained independence from France in 1956.  Designed by Raffaele Contigiani, the 1973 hotel has been purchased by a real estate development firm, which plans to demolish the original building and replace it with a new luxury hotel.

Submitted by Nathaniel Powell