Afaina de Jong [AFARAI]
Michael Obrist in conversation with Afaina de Jong about A(n)other Vernacular.
AFARAI
AFARAI is an Amsterdam-based architectural agency that specializes in spatial design and strategy, led by architect Afaina de Jong. The studio’s aim is to cross the boundaries of the traditional architecture practice by dealing with the existing city with an intersectional and interdisciplinary approach, integrating theory and research with design. As a studio AFARAI considers itself a feminist practice that encourages change on social and spatial issues and that accommodate differences.
Afaina de Jong
Afaina has worked for renowned international firms before establishing her own firm in 2005. With her creative studio AFARAI she works on the boundary of architecture and art. Her work is deeply connected to represent people and cultural movements that are not traditionally represented in architectural form. By using form languages, colors, patterns and narratives that are other, she works towards a more inclusive experience of space. Afaina is a contemporary thinker, keeping a pulse on the now while at the same time projecting a unique vision of the future. For Afaina it is important that architecture is not only perceived, but also experienced and interacted with. Her discourse is international and intersectional, connecting popular culture with architecture.
Afaina has been an active educator for years amongst others at the Faculty of Architecture at TU Delft, The Sandberg Institute, and ARTEZ and has been a guest lecturer at Columbia University GSAPP in New York, KTH in Stockholm and the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence. Her design research The Multiplicity of Other is commissioned for the Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021.