Aviya Afra

VOLUNTEER

Aviya Afra is an architecture student at Barnard College of Columbia University specializing in space architecture. Her work explores how architecture can support human life beyond Earth, focusing on the psychological, social, and physiological needs of people living in extreme environments.

At Aurelia Institute, Aviya contributes to the development of crew interfaces and concepts for the TESSERAE Orbital Biolab. Previously, she served as a Design Research Intern at Stellar Amenities, investigating physical design strategies and smart habitat systems for commercial space stations, with findings presented to the VAST team and considered for implementation in Haven-1 and Haven-2. She also interned with Different Systems, where she contributed to design research, physical modeling, and the development of architectural concepts.

At Columbia University, Aviya led Designing Beyond Earth, a research project exploring the future of human habitation in space. Working with world-renowned space architects and researchers, she created a comprehensive "Living Archive" documenting the evolution of space habitats and the ideas shaping humanity's future beyond Earth. Through Columbia’s Space Initiative, she contributed to Martian habitat design on NASA's RASC-AL team and researched the psychological and social dimensions of space habitation on the Behavioral Science Team. Her work has received national recognition through the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Competition, where her project was selected among the top 2% of submissions nationwide and exhibited at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York.