Restore, destroy or leave to rot? Battle lines drawn over west Africa’s architectural heritage

Uncompleted or abandoned buildings are a regular feature of the landscape. Now calls for restorations are increasing

Beneath mango trees in the lush garden of the Palais de Lome, an oceanside estate in the Togolese capital, dozens of students from the African School of Architecture and Urban Planning (EAMAU) were taking sessions on archiving.

Established in 1905, the palace housed German, French and British colonial governors in succession and then the Togolese presidency before falling into disuse in the 1990s. After a five-year restoration project, its doors were opened to the public in 2019.