City of Reeds @cityofreeds - Tumblr Blog

Posts

Working on the new booklet

and playing around with new graphics...

#city of reeds #graphics

architectureofdoom

The Vacuum

Maputo, Mozambique

Fieldwork End

After 3 weeks in Mozambique we are now back in the UK.

The project however, is not over. During our stay we managed to collect 11 interviews with builders and craftsmen in Mahotas ranging from painters to welders to wall builders as well as numerous photos of houses and construction in the area. With all the film and photographs from these interviews the job now is to work on creating a cohesive body of work that demonstrate the unique culture of building in Mahotas and hopefully other peripheral urban areas of Maputo.

By concentrating on the process of the built form and by taking it directly from the perspective of those who control the built environment I hope the study can offer an interesting new perspective on the emerging urban architecture.

Raphael. Upholsterer

C: What is the name of your profession?

R: Estofador (Upholsterer)

C: How long have you been an estoffador for?

R: I've been working for about 10 years.

C: Can you talk us through the process for a sofa?

R: First you make a structure out of wood. After I shape it using sponge, and then cover it with material.

Raphael then showed us he would use a compressador to wrap the material lining in plastic. This is the same compressor used for painting cars or filing up tyres.

Once the sofa is covered, the seams are then covered with sanded, polished and varnished wooden ends at the bottom of the arm rests and the back, seats and arms are all attached together.

C: Where do you get your materials

R: I get the material and madeira from a shop.

C: Do you have a most popular design?

R: No, not really. The people in here can ask for anything. I'm making two of these sofa's today but the design always changes. Sometimes it is not sofa's but chairs.

C: I can see a sewing machine over there (point to veranda), do you sew as well?

R: Yes, I make and sew the coverings myself.

C: How did you learn?

R: First I was an assistant/apprentice and now I do it myself. I've gotten better and better as I progress in my work.

C: Do you use your sewing to do anything else?

R: No just sofa's

C: Is this a restoration?

R: No, I don't restore things. I only make new items.

C: Do you want to go on to do anything after working as an estofador?

R: Yes, I would like to be a carpenter.

Raphael. Estofador

A Short Introduction

Raphael is an upholsterer in Mahotas.

He has been working for 10 years. The process of upholstering has enabled him to learn some basic carpentry skills, yet, he has also learnt sewing and 'wrapping' from his profession, though does not extend these to other crafts or designs outside of furniture.

Raphael's workshop is located at the front of his family home. The front garden close to the fence is where he builds the structure of the sofa, under the shade of four large trees. Behind, in the cool shade of the veranda of his house he sews together material coverings.

#city of reeds #mozambique #upholsterer #design #worker #mahotas #maputo #proffession #furniture #africa

Angolan energy drinks and grandiose comparisons

For Verlaine, Rimbaud and Wilde it was the green fairy...

...we prefer the Blue fairy

#blue #mozambique #fairy #alcohol #fizzy drinks

Snippet of film to come

#tiago #plasterer #mozambique #architecture #craft #builder #cement #building #video

Day 11; Vovo Velemo

We spent Tuesday in the company of Vovo Velemo, or Obama to his neighbours. Vovo Velemo is over 70 years old and a full of stories and wisdom about the history of Mahotas. Although we came for this exact reason, we were also able to gain an insight in the life of this very kind, patient and surprisingly creative man.

The pictures above are not of Vovo Velemo's house (he lives in a bright orange bungalow based on the villas of Matola), but of his 'shed' in the corner of his front garden. Created from bits and pieces he's picked up from over the years, these pieces of timber, broken concrete blocks and metal grating come from the debris from the construction out of shot in the photos and are recycled to make the garden shed, book shed, goose house and an outdoor kitchen. He has also fashioned a seating area around the family tree, equipped with a fridge, to protect the books from Mozambique's humid conditions, and comfortable deck chairs.

We spent the afternoon learning more about the man and Mahotas and finished the day with a tour of Mahotas led by Vovo.

I'll save more about Vovo for a proper post, but I hope you enjoy this snippet of a very big and wonderful character.

Day 10

Day 10, Monday 7:50am, we got a call from my cousin telling us that the Car was broken and wouldn't be fixed till much later in the day. Welcome to Mozamabique.

Staying in central Maputo we instead went to the hairdressers where Doran had her first ever African hair experience, and were we sat in the company of adulterous Columbian cowboys and Princess Diana confidantes, thanks to the large television screen above our heads and the terrible Portuguese magazines in our hands. I was informed by Doran that African hairdressers wash your scalp a lot harder, but thankfully they are good at cutting hair so we left happy and ended the day with sushi.

tudo bom

Machambas

We also discovered on sunday that Machamba's, the agricultural plots of land in the peripheries and bairros of Maputo, are also kept behind the high walls we pass every day in Mahotas. It was a bit like opening the door of a tardis, or more fittingly a secret garden when we stepped into this enormous plot of farm land expecting a house. This was a big revelation for me but obviously not for tio Jojo who then told me he could tell from the outside which were machambas. Before than I wondered why some houses went against the grain of Mozambique's quite open and permeable fences and were instead; lined with broken bottles, electric fencing or simply just a lot taller. I still haven't confirmed 100% whether these are ALL for machambas though but it seems the most likely. The only other indicator for myself is the sighting of numerous papaya trees.

#machambas

Day 09; Snapshots of Mahotas during the rain

Sunday was quiet. We drove up in the rain not really expecting much but when we got there the weather had calmed down and we suddenly saw Mahotas, normally dusty and yellow transformed by the rain into a deep green and bright orange from the wet vegetation and soil.

Walking down the silent streets documenting walls we ran into Enoch Joao, the owner of the cement block casting workshop we'd met the day before. After the normal exchanges of "tudo bem" and so on Enoch invited us to see his mother's home where we were greeted by 2 litters of piglets in the 3 sties to the side of the house.

The day went by quite lazily after that since it was really a day for photographing rather than interviewing. The only other surprising discovery after meeting Enoch, was the thatch dance hall which a builder kindly showed us around and the machambas (mozambican portuguese for 'allotments') around the area (above is a photo of the cashew nut machamba were the land had been scorched).

I'm still in the process of editing the photographs but I've included a few in here although they are still not finished.

#machamba #mozambique #architecture #mahotas #pigs

what we're listening to;

Heavy C - O Telefone é Meu

Blog Post Day 06-09; Mahotas a Land of Architects

Mahotas is a quiet place but there's a quiet excitement going on.

Effectively a suburb, the pace of life is slow and since we come in the daytime most people are at work. However, in the streets we find odd mounds of rubble and sand, and behind open gates we are constantly met by piles of cement blocks; these are first sign of the area's obsession with building which has now become our study.

We begin talking to people and find that everyone we meet in Mahotas is in fact building, whether it's welding, plastering, carpentry or block casting. It is everywhere, and it's most easily found and understood when talking with the people.

Since our first trip to Mahotas we've been able to begin filming workers and builders in the area to build almost 'portraits' of constructional professions here. Our method is pretty simple (bordering on casual). We simply drive around the bairro searching for building work, then stop the car and introduce ourselves. From here we explain that we are conducting an architectural study and ask for permission to film. If the person says no we simply interview and ask to photograph the items. It's been very enjoyable and is probably my favorite part of the project at the minute. Builders in Mahotas are quite happy to take us through the work despite the fact that as my family members inform me, almost every Mozambican is familiar with them.

This is the beauty of the relationship between constructing and designing here, it is accessible to everyone. This is no more evident than in the high street of Mahotas.

Your typical high street; mahotas's is filled with barbers, green grocers and a large amount of clothes and shoe vendors. Almost as abundant however, are the carpenters, block sellers, and building equipment shops which also pop up in the rest of the bairro.

Building in Mahotas is something you engage with on a day to day basis.People here pass their own and their neighbors building sites every day for the majority of their lives as they enter and leave their houses for work. What's more is that everyone is constantly designing and part of the process. It is like a world of architect's.

I have so much more the say on this but I think it is too much for this blog and needs some more development. Also sushi is waiting.

Fica Bem!

Also the photo above is of a pile of thatch for a new events hall (not night club as I just poorly attempted to translate) and not a house like the majority of building work here. One thing we've found here is that thatch has suddenly become fashionable for public buildings whereas the majority of houses use aluminium.

#mahotas #Architecture #mozambique

What we're listening to; C4 Pedro

#music #mozambique

Blog post day 05: Mia Couto

Maputo Tuesday 24th September

After spying a poster advertising the 'Semana de tradução ' - a week of discussion on translation in the Franco Mozambique Cultural Center in Maputo - we headed there on Tuesday afternoon. The poster had said that Mia Couto would be speaking at the conference, so I arrived armed with one of his books, hoping that I could get him to sign it for me. Eyes on the prize.

The afternoon was comprised of two talks. The first was given by a PhD student from the University of São Paulo about the tradition of story telling in French speaking Africa (referring to writers such as Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Birago Diop and Bernard Binlin Dadié). The real highlight, however, was the following discussion between two academics, the author Mia Couto and his french translator Elisabeth Monteiro. The panel discussed the difficulties and joys of translation. At one point, Mia Couto was questioned about a remark he had made on Brazilian TV that bits of his work simply couldn't be translated. Given the company, that was slightly awkward! However, Mia responded in a polite and charming way, praising the creativity and intelligence of translation..(though he didn't retract his comment, which was pleasing). The talk was engaging and I look forward to sharing what I heard in more detail with those back home studying Portuguese.

At the end I went up and spoke to Mia Couto. He is a lovely man! I was so pleased! ... and yes, he did sign my book. Eyes on the prize.

Doran

Felipe Branquinho Phtographer Mozambique http://blog.leica-camera.com/photographers/interviews/felipe-branquinho-to-keep-photographing-the-story-of-the-people/

#photography #mozambique #felipe branquinho

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

City of Reeds