Waterwolf’s Revenge
      Sun Salutations
      Crate Set
      The Curtain















        Deconstructing
        Afrikahuis
        *main entrance of Afrikahuis, image
        courtesy of City Archives Amsterdam

         Alien to the surrounding 19th century Amsterdam buildings, Joop van Stigt’s 1968 Afrikahuis both stands out and hides in plain sight.

        This project compiles various tools designed to help navigate its concealed geometry. The ultimate goal is increasing the building’s visibility in the neighborhood.

        First, I study the ground floor, the concrete skeleton that upholds the wooden church. For a precise approach, I remove its walls and ceiling to expose it to the public.

        Then, I catalogue its constituent elements and their relationship. The focus becomes that of a lexicon of the building and how to decipher it.

        Lastly, I abstract the volumes, applying structuralist dichotomies such as inside-outside, positive-negative, and ultimately, visible-invisible.



        **selected page from booklet;
        floorplan, sections and elevations
        of Afrikahuis’ groundfloor




        ***        booklet on top of metal mesh stand,
        designed in the abstracted shape
        of a column 


        ****selected pages from booklet;
         architectural elements of the ground floor
        and their “shell” or negative, alluding to
        concrete formwork




        *****selcted pages from booklet;
        fieldnotes in English, Dutch & Spanish
        on the back of site photos




        ******3D printed negatives and positives
        of benches, columns or beams
        shown on site on for the group exhibiton
        Afrikahuis: Speculative Projects


        ******* 2D shapes generated by the elements of the groundfloor;
        beams, columns, benches, collaged in various compositions

        text, photography, technical drawings, book stand,
        3D printed volumes, collages
        September - December 2024