Description

The Tonelli Building, designed by Pancho Guedes (1925–2015) for Maputo in 1957, falls into the category that the architect refers to as “Habitable Boxes and Shelves for Many People” in his Vitruvius Mozambicanus – the catalogue in which Guedes organised his work into 25 families (Pedro Guedes, 2009). According to the author, “these boxes and shelves model themselves on the early works of the Modern Movement which were like huge cubical machines, Machines à Habiter, but they are mostly quite brightly painted. In some of them each apartment is identified by expressing it as an unit on the cellular façades. In all of them the access and circulation is schematic and direct” (Pancho Guedes, 2007, p. 11).

The building was commissioned by the Italian engineer Franco Tonelli for a plot of land in Maxaquene, Maputo, located next to the Tunduru Botanical Garden, the only large public garden in the city centre. The building stands with a strong urban presence on a high point in the city. It has a three-storey base for commercial spaces, warehouses and garages, while the nine storeys above are designated for collective housing. This division is accentuated by the sgraffito mural occupying the side of the third floor’s gable and the overall volumetrics, as the façade of the block slightly tilts over the base. There is a volumetric interplay between the horizontal character of the distribution galleries, their openings at various heights, and the verticality of the protruding stair and elevator core to the south and setback to the north, effectively dividing the building into two symmetrical bodies. The main entrance to the building is accentuated through this setback, and the large plane separating the building’s base. Pancho Guedes takes advantage of the difference in level to create an inner courtyard and to incorporate the warehouse and garage. The other two levels house shops and upper-storey shops with double-height spaces.

The façades adhere to a modern aesthetic and reveal the concept of shelves with their projecting slabs and wall panels that rest upon them in a regular rhythm, following a modular structure with a 5.30 metre centre-to-centre distance. Within these modules, the “habitable boxes” are inserted. These units have a width of 5.20 metre and a length of 10.30 metre, with an approximate 1:2 ratio. There is an obvious parallel with the Unité d´Habitation in Marseille by Le Corbusier, where each unit was described as a “bottle” that could be built independently and inserted into its container. In some cells of the Unité, the proportion is also 1:2, developed based on the double square of the Modulor.

Currently, the building has 56 apartments: 40 one-room (T1) units with 52 square metres and 16 three-room (duplex) units (T3) with 104 square metres. The access to the apartments, via the galleries, is differentiated based on social and typological hierarchy: the T1 units have only one access from galleries with a height of 3 metres, while the T3 units are served by two different galleries, one for service with a 2.10 metre height and one noble gallery of 4 metres.

The functional organisation of the T1 apartments is very straightforward, with just a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom-living room and a balcony. The T3 apartments, on the lower level, have a kitchen with a dining area, storage, laundry area and a living room with a balcony, while on the upper level, there are two bedrooms, a sewing room, a bathroom and a balcony. The more frequently used spaces, such as bedrooms and living rooms, face northeast, receiving ample daylight and the prevailing northeast and east breezes. The service areas, facing southwest, have less direct sunlight and are regulated by smaller openings and louvres that collect light and breezes from the southeast.

Pancho Guedes prioritizes the correct solar orientation over the northward view of the sea. Only the horizontal accesses provided by the long open galleries enjoy the open view.

Closely linked to various forms of artistic expression, Pancho Guedes often spoke of his murals as a means of expression, projection and integration of his graphic universe. In the case of the Tonelli Building, the geometric patterns etched and painted on the plaster can be compared to the designs of the Mapogga tribe or some motifs from the “caniços” doors photographed by the architect. “Caniço” (slender cane) is the term used in Mozambique to name spontaneously built urban settlements by the indigenous population, forming an apparently chaotic and improvised urban continuum characterised by precarious constructions made of perishable materials such as wood, thatch and the slender cane from which they take their name. Unfortunately, the impact of the murals is no longer that prominent due to the changes made over the years.

The significance of this work lies in its interpretation of Modern Movement architecture. While following an objective rationality and functionality rooted in various aspects of the Modern Movement’s lexicon, the Tonelli Building reveals various subtleties that reject the canonical formalism of the International Style. On all the façades, there are clues to distinguish the different functions behind the façade panels. The modulation of openings on the front façade, the differences in ceiling height in the southwest-facing galleries, and the artistic composition of the lateral façade with projecting openings of various sizes capturing views of the Tunduru Botanical Garden subtly reveal the differences in typologies and hierarchies present in the building. These small variations break the monotony without compromising the coherence and homogeneity of the whole.

References

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Tostões, A. (2016). “Tonelli Building”: Heritage of Portuguese Influence. HPIP. https://hpip.org/en/heritage/details/2256

Tostões, A. (2021). “Tonelli Building”. In: P. Meuser and A. Dalbai (eds.), Architectural Guide. Sub-Saharan Africa (Vol. 7: Southern Africa: Between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans). Berlin: DOM Publishers, p. 60.

Tostões, A. and Braga, A. (2013). “Tonelli Building. The Habitable Shelf”. In: A. Tostões (ed.), Modern Architecture in Africa: Angola and Mozambique. Lisbon: ICIST/Técnico-University of Lisbon, pp. 290–307.

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Originally published in: Uta Pottgiesser, Ana Tostões, Modernism in Africa. The Architecture of Angola, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Birkhäuser, 2024.