PINK CITY
To see anew
Maputo is the city of my birth and the place I called home until turning 20. Thereafter, I spent the next 15 years away, to study and then work and teach in Cape Town, with a brief passage through Sydney as a student intern. I've returned to the city in 2016, to call it home again.
Returning after a long period away, means to re-connect. And part of that, as an architect, is to look at the city again, to perceive and record changes. To capture the essence of the built environment, what makes it unique. To look and see. This is my journey, and here are some of my findings.
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Pink Rules
Perhaps it has been there all along, and I just hadn't noticed it before. Nevertheless, the more I walk around the city, the more I notice the prevalence pink as wall colour. Virtually its entire spectrum, from the palest baby hues, to salmons, to dark pinks becoming red. The patina on this wall cannot hide its history with pink, a palimpsest.
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A concatenation of odd façade elements, otherwise unified by the same salmon-pink wall colour. The interlocking square screening at the external stairwell of the Rhulany School is an interesting shielding element.
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Avenida Olof Palme,
Cidade de Maputo
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Marshmallows in the sky.
The façade treatment of this building stands out as being less common in Maputo, for an apartment block. The balconies project outward, instead of the more common recessing or “voiding” (as in the adjacent building on the right). The balconies are also curved, rather than square, square being prevalent in the city. This not only assigns a differentiating character to the building, but the use of pink as backdrop further exaggerates the "popping" effect of the balconies. I estimate it was built in the 1970's.
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Avenida Julius Nyerere,
Cidade de Maputo
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Memphis-like pastels colour palette at the main access stairwell of the Rosas de Moçambique building. Pink harmonises the disparate patterns.
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Avenida Julius Nyerere,
Cidade de Maputo
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Relevant ugliness.
Small apartment block, possibly from late 1960’s.
This is a modest facade (made ugly by time and lack of maintenance), yet not naked: balconies and recesses are indispensable in this city. It’s about enjoying the good weather – a way of life.
And importantly, protecting openings from rain during the wet summer season, whilst catching breezes and cooling rooms beyond. Simple gestures, not always seen on new builds around town.
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Avenida 24 de Julho,
Cidade de Maputo