This paper proposes a reflection on the complexity of urban enclave formations in African urban contexts, based on an account of the rise and fall of the Prédio da Lagoa (Lagoon Building) in Luanda. Built in the 1970s, left unfinished by the colonial authorities after Angolan independence and subsequently occupied by war refugees, the building became an iconic landmark in downtown Luanda, conjuring reactions of fascination and horror among passers-by, and an ongoing debate about its dereliction and unsafety. Ultimately, the Prédio never actually fell, but was demolished in the 2010s, in the framework of a major urban development project, and its residents forcefully evicted. While the Prédio da Lagoa does not actually embody a ‘typical’ process of urban enclaving in contemporary cities, it nevertheless tells a story of speculative development and possible citizenships in a country with a known history of violence and dispossession when it comes to urban formations. Performing a particular ‘possible history’ of the Prédio and also framing it in a comparative reflection with other cases of iconic construction, occupation and inhabitation (such as Kinshasa’s Limete Tower or Beira’s Grande Hotel), I propose a discussion on “buildings and democracy”, in order to highlight such material formations as political indexes in what concerns citizenship, human rights and justice (Weizman 2010, 2013; Ockman 2011).

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