Afarai

Available for Pre-order: For The People, By The People

afaina — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:00:25 +0000

This is the century of city lovers. For the People, By the People: A visual story on the DIY City by Afaina de Jong is a visual story about how people influence change in the city. De Jong sheds a new light on what architecture and the city can be in the 21st century with a DIY attitude at the heart of the city making process. The main narrative of the book aims to create a consciousness about what movements can serve as a basis for sustainable urbanism rooted firmly in local communities. Through visual storytelling the book opens up the discourse on the future city to not only the professional city makers, but to everyone who is invested in their urban surroundings. The book is made up out of photographs that Afaina de Jong took between 2003 and 2010 in New York, London, Barçelona, Tokyo, Amsterdam, São Paulo and other cities. And explores current urban trends in urban culture&identity, grassroots activism, the demise of public space, urban poverty and city farming.

HOW TO PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY
The book is now available for pre-order in the webshop or you can send an email to order@ultradelarue.com. If you order the book before May 1st, you will receive a free limited edition poster along with the book.

PROMOTIONAL TRAILER
For a special preview of the book, check out the trailer on Vimeo

ULTRA DE LA RUE SPACE
In conjunction with the book For the People, By the People: A visual story on the DIY City, Ultra De La Rue Publishing is opening a space in the former prostitution windows at the Oudekerksplein 30 in the Red Light District in Amsterdam. During 6 weeks the space is dedicated to explore the themes presented in the book through film screenings, lectures, creative sessions and exhibitions. Find the full listing of the program at www.ultradelarue.com/events. The Ultra De La Rue Creative Space carries For the People, By the People: A visual story on the DIY City together with a wide selection of related books, t-shirts and music.

MINI MALL Rotterdam

afaina — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:08:32 +0000

The re-development of the fhe first seven arched spaces of the former Station Hofplein building is finished. The MINI MALL, a mini shopping mall for creative entrepreneurs, is ready to join Rotterdams’ city life. The first seven arches have been fully restored to their original monumental state. The existing interior has been completely stripped, to accomodate the new MINI MALL. A nightclub, restaurants, coffee bars and creative retail are connected by a internal event space. The exterior facades will create transparency and add a new visual layer to the urban space. AFARAI and Pena Architecture teamed up to get busy on this huge redevelopment project and we are very proud! For more pictures of the project, click here.

Client: De Hofbogen B.V.
Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Gross floor area: 2500 m2
Completion date: May 2011
Scope of work: Architectural Design, Interior design, Urban Design, Content development, Identity & Marketing development.

TOKO MC opens its doors in Amsterdam

afaina — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 17:06:53 +0000

AFARAI is proud to present our latest project. Asian Caribbean restaurant TOKO MC recently opened its door at the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam. TOKO MC is part of the new MC theater. The interior design reflects the warm tropical environment that signifies the cuisine and vibe of the restaurant. Two freestanding T-formed shapes arrange the dining space into six seating areas with views of the eclectic interior. We developed custom-made prints for the interior walls and handpainted them on the walls.

Client: Toko MC
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Gross floor area: 250m2
Completion date: October 2010
Description of work: Architectural Design

Wall Wonders

afaina — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:27:59 +0000

While working on the publication A Day in Sao Paulo in 2009, the grey surroundings of Sao paulo a new project was born. Our handmade graphics for the first time made the move from inside to the outdoors and by doing so put this city into a new light. We’re working on a new series of art prints in New York at the moment. More to come soon.

New Publication: A DAY IN SAO PAULO

afaina — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 08:45:15 +0000

Open publication – Free publishing – More urban

A Day In São Paulo is the first book in the Day by Day book series. This series offers an inspirational outlook on the artistic and creative expressions in the cities worldwide. A Day In São Paulo tells a story that goes beyond individual styles in order to show the collective impact of urban visual artists on the way we encounter our surroundings. You can order A Day In São Paulo for 29,95 euro here

Artwork Shoot Wibaut Photo Safari

afaina — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 21:28:26 +0000

Event: Shoot Wibaut Photo Safari, Amsterdam
Product: 10.000 Flyer and 500 posters
Designer: Innavisons, Marco Sterk en Orpheu de Jong
Visitors: 480 people

Artwork Cut&Paste Amsterdam

afaina — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 21:04:11 +0000

Event: Cut&Paste Amsterdam, Digital Design Tournament, Paradiso Amsterdam
Product: 15.000 Flyer and 1000 posters
Designer: Piet Parra
Visitors: 1261 people

From Station To Mini Mall

afaina — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 23:22:17 +0000

The heart of Rotterdam is in the process of being transformed. The Hofplein viaduct was built in Rotterdam in the early 20th century. This 1.9 km long viaduct starts at the monumental Hofplein Station. The arched spaces of the former Station Hofplein building is redeveloped into a mini shopping mall for creative entrepreneurs.

The first seven arches have been fully restored to their original monumental state. The existing interior has been completely stripped, the reinforcement has been cleaned and the concrete of the vaults and columns repaired to prepare the spaces for the new Mini Mall Shopping Mall. A nightclub, restaurants, coffee bars and creative retail are connected by a internal event space. The exterior facades add a new visual layer to the urban space.

Mark Magazine

afaina — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:25:07 +0000

Mark Magazines is one of our favorite magazines around. Since the start-up of MARK Magazine in 2005 Afaina de Jong / AFARAI has been closely involved as a contributing editor for the magazine with a special focus on urban phenomena and subjects on the crossroads of architecture. After 5 years of writing for the magazine, we’re working on the third publication of our own, while Mark Magazine remains one of the finest in the game. Big Up MARK!

Tokyo Investigation

afaina — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:20:40 +0000

For the Hakuhodo Think Tank HILL in Tokyo, AFARAI went deep into Tokyo to investigate life in the city and the implications of the lack of space in the city.

Even though it’s a well known fact that space is at a premium in Tokyo, the suspicion that everything was intertwined and connected to the lack of urban space in the city led us to explore this subject further. This is a story about how the structural space deficit in Tokyo has shaped the city, its architecture and the quality of life of those who live in it. The long hours of commuting; the impossibility of living in Tokyo’s city center; the lack of affordable space for small-scale entrepreneurs, are all deficiencies in Tokyo’ s urban fabric. Urban deficiencies that set the conditions for a city in which the quality of life of the inhabitants is no longer dependent on the quality of the urban surroundings but rather, on the comfort and convenience offered by Tokyo’s massive service industry.

You can download a condensed version of this special bi-lingual Japanese/English publication here

Toko MC

afaina — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:11:43 +0000

Asian Caribbean restaurant TOKO MC opened its door at the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam. TOKO MC is part of the new MC theater. The interior design reflects the warm tropical environment that signifies the cuisine and vibe of the restaurant. Two freestanding T-formed shapes arrange the dining space into six seating areas with views of the eclectic interior. We developed custom-made prints for the interior walls and handpainted them on the walls.

Client: Toko MC
Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Gross floor area: 250m2
Completion date: October 2010
Description of work: Architectural Design

The MC Theater

afaina — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:10:28 +0000

In the Theater of Architecture many players have to come together to realize the final show piece. As the project architect AFARAI created the design and concept for the new theater of theater group MC in Amsterdam.

The program is divers, a restaurant, offices, dressing rooms, backstage, 3 theater rooms, a sound studio and a lot of storage. For the main theater hall a floating steel structure with sliding doors was to be erected and for the dressing rooms and backstage another steels structure. The concept was to create a certain transparency about what goes on behind the scenes in a theater. It was also important to design the flexibility to use the spaces for other type of events into it.

Client: Cosmic Foundation
Location: Amsterdam The Netherlands
Gross floor area: 1800 m2