Afaina de Jong

Afaina de Jong (b. 1977, Amsterdam) is an Amsterdam-based architect who works at the intersection of art and architecture. With her studio AFARAI (est. 2005, Amsterdam), her approach crosses the boundaries of traditional architecture by dealing with the city as intersectional and interdisciplinary, integrating theory and research with design as a feminist practice that encourages change and accommodates differences. By using form as a language, colors, patterns, and narratives that are seen as other, she works toward a more inclusive experience of space. De Jong is head of the Contextual Design MA department at Design Academy Eindhoven, and has held roles in education at the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft; Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam; Columbia University GSAPP, New York; KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm; and Rhode Island School of Design, Providence. Her design initiative, The Embodied Restoration Lab, focused on AI, feminism, and architecture, was part of the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2025. Her design research, The Multiplicity of Other, was commissioned for the Dutch Pavilion at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021.