Maputo is, among other things, an open-air museum of Pancho Guedes architecture. The Mozambican-Portuguese architect designed more than 500 buildings in the city between the 1950s and 1974, in a wildly inventive style of his own. Several of them are within easy walking distance of each other in the upper Baixa and Polana — visiting them in sequence is one of the more rewarding ways to spend a couple of hours.
Key buildings to find: the Saipal Bakery (1954) on Avenida Eduardo Mondlane, with its scalloped concrete roof; the Smiling Lion apartment block (1956–58) with its grimacing facade; the Octopus House in Polana; Promotora del Coração de Maria church; the Tonelli House with its forked entry posts; and the DLouro House on Avenida Patrice Lumumba. A walking map is sold at the Casa Comum, the cultural centre on Avenida Karl Marx, which also runs occasional guided architecture tours.