Africa’s tallest tower is not what you might expect. Ponte Tower in Johannesburg is a hulking concrete cylinder that is about as scary as a building can be. Its round courtyard is some 54 stories tall, and tops out at over 560 feet. This tube to the sky is something out of a science fiction movie, a brutalist dystopian trope that just happens to be real.
Images via atlasobscura.com
The building was originally designed by architect Manfred Hermer as an icon of luxury and wealth: the apartments used to be three stories, with jacuzzis and other posh amenities. When democracy came, the whites fled and blacks moved in. The courtyard was designed to let in light to the interior apartments. The black servants lived facing inward to the tall, half-lit interior courtyard; wealthy whites lived on the outside apartments.
The neighborhood fell into decline, and during apartheid it turned into a slum with suicides and trash in the central corridor. The building became a beacon for organized crime, as drug dealers and prostitutes found refuge there. It was like Torre David mated with Cabrini Green in a massive tower of terror.
Today, the Ponte Tower has been cleaned up somewhat by a new group of investors who purchased it in 2001. They have instituted a strict security policy and evicted many of the shady characters. The boarding house-like entrances keep people inside safe and people outside out. Residents say it is getting better.