Maputo is close to being an architectural and urban utopia. Maputo as Utopia. MAPUTOPIA celebrates Maputo’s wonderful architectural qualities through a mapping exercise of its past, present and its possible future: another 125 years of architectural pride.

Maputo, and in particular the ‘Baixa’, is currently subject to many changes, mostly due to booming economic development which challenge the built heritage of the city. This rapid development provokes a reaction to protect these buildings and urban landscape.

Students and tutors of the Architecture Schools of Maputo, Pretoria (South Africa) and Delft (The Netherlands) have jointly researched and redesigned parts of the ‘Baixa de Maputo’. This pioneering international academic exchange was a true success:  The individual projects submitted by the students are of high quality and the level of mutual learning has been tremendous.

Dino and Humberto, Maputo born artists, have built numerous models of iconic and typical cityscapes and buildings of Maputo. Their models, carefully collected by the Dutch biologist Bernard Groosjohan, celebrate Maputo’s architecture of the past and the present.