Fiat Tagliero Building

The Fiat Tagliero is Asmara's most famous building and a Futurist icon: a former filling station shaped like an aeroplane, with two reinforced-concrete wings cantilevered 15 metres out from a central tower. Designed by Giuseppe Pettazzi in 1938 for the Fiat company, it was an attempt to express speed and modernity in built form on the edge of an African colony.

The building is no longer used as a service station, but it has been restored and stands as one of the centrepieces of Asmara's UNESCO World Heritage listing. You can walk around the exterior and admire it from any angle; interior access varies. The light is best in the late afternoon when the wings throw long shadows over the road.

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A story
When the building was designed in 1938 the engineer Giuseppe Pettazzi insisted that the 15-metre cantilevered wings would stand without supports. The Italian authorities forced him to put temporary props in place at the unveiling; legend has it that Pettazzi held a pistol on the contractor until the props were removed in front of the gathered crowd.