page_title: Maputo
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Maputo / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: The "Iron House" in Maputo, MozambiqueDeutsch: Das „Eiserne Haus“ in Maputo, MosambikPortuguês: A Casa de Ferro em Maputo, Moçambique
context_page_description: Maputo, officially named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the capital and most populous city of Mozambique. The city is named after chief Maputsu I of the Tembe clan, a subgroup of Tsonga people. Located near the southern end of the country, it is positioned within 120 km of the Eswatini and South Africa borders. The city has a population of 1,088,449 distributed over a land area of 347,69 km². The Maputo metropolitan area includes the neighbouring city of Matola, and has a total population of 2,717,437. Maputo is a port city, with an economy centered on commerce. It is also noted for its vibrant cultural scene and distinctive, eclectic architecture.
  Maputo is situated on a large natural bay on the Indian Ocean, near where the rivers Tembe, Mbuluzi, Matola and Infulene converge. The city consists of seven administrative divisions, which are each subdivided into quarters or bairros. The city is surrounded by Maputo Province, but is administered as a self-contained, separate province since 1998. Maputo City is the geographically smallest and most densely populated province in Mozambique.
context_section_description: Maputo had always been the center of attention during its formative years and this strong artistic spirit was responsible for attracting some of the world's most forward architects at the turn of the 20th century. The city is home to masterpieces of building work by  Pancho Guedes, Herbert Baker and Thomas Honney amongst others. The earliest architectural efforts around the city focused on classical European designs such as the Central Train Station (CFM) designed by architects Alfredo Augusto Lisboa de Lima, Mario Veiga and Ferreira da Costa and built between 1913 and 1916 (sometimes mistaken with the work of Gustav Eiffel), and the Hotel Polana designed by Herbert Baker.
  As the 1960s and 1970s approached, Maputo was yet again at the center of a new wave of architectural influences made most popular by Pancho Guedes. The designs of the 1960s and 1970s were characterized by modernist movements of clean, straight and functional structures.  However, prominent architects such as Pancho Guedes fused this with local art schemes giving the city's buildings a unique Mozambican theme. As a result, most of the properties erected during the second construction boom take on these styling cues.
caption: A Casa de Ferro - The Iron House
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