Abreu, Santos e Rocha Building

Maputo [Lourenço Marques], Maputo, Mozambique

Equipment and Infrastructures

The building is a work from 1954-1956, by Pancho Guedes with later enlargement of several floors. It is located opposite the eclectic, French-style and romantic Railway Station, at the intersection of the square with the Consiglieri Pedroso Street. It features geometric screens, in conjunction with a wide low relief of African-model graphic motifs (“flint-stones murals”, according to Guedes). The grating on the west front is placed in an innovative manner, with a sculptural expression – and clearly shows the plastic and formal artifices characteristic of the author, who began the project in Lisbon while doing the State architectural exam.

• José Manuel Fernandes