In this introduction, i give an overview of the basic knowledge on quantum dots and nanoplatelets necessary to fellow the rest of the manuscript. I recall the basics on quantum confinement, colloidal nanocrystals and the specificities of colloidal quantum wells. Then, i review the forces acting between colloidal nanocrystals which lead to their self-assembly. This part has been written in the context of an invited mini-review article on the self-assembly of semi-conducting nanocrystals published recently in a special issue of ChemPhysChem dedicated to quantum dots. The second chapter deals with the colloidal stability of colloidal quantum wells and is adapted from a recent publication. Chapters 3 to 7 describe our recent work on the self-assembly of colloidal nanoplatelets into different kind of super-structures, from anisotropic supra-particles to (twisted) threads. Chapters 3 and 4 have already been published while chapters 5 and 6 have not appeared in the literature yet. Finally, i describe the main research direction in which i intend to work in a near future.