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Jerome Haferd

He // Him // His

Architect and Artist

Harlem, New York

A brown-skinned man with black slightly curly hair is leaning against a Brownstone facade wearing a navy blazer with an olive sweater collar. He is looking into the camera.

Photo by Elias Williams. 

“My work is interested in what I call acts of “radical preservation.” In almost all of my work, I seek to image histories — often those missing from the archive — and to bridge the gap between the archaeological layers of the built environment and speculative, reclaimed futures.”

Jerome W Haferd is an architect, public artist, and educator based in Harlem, NYC, and principal of the award-winning JEROME HAFERD Studio. Haferd is an assistant professor of architecture at City College’s Spitzer School of Architecture (SSA) where he co-directs the Place, Memory, and Culture Incubator (PMCI).

A Black and /mixed race creative originally from Akron, OH, Haferd’s practice critically engages built environment projects in urban and rural contexts, often looking to Black, Indigenous, and other marginalized histories to unlock a new imaginary for architecture, design, and cultural infrastructure. His work on complex sites includes collaborations with the Harlem African Burial Ground, Roots to Sky Sanctuary, Park Avenue Armory, National Black Theatre, and numerous public agencies. He is lead designer for the 2023-24 Culture, Creativity, and Care Initiative with Harlem Grown and the Mellon Foundation. Haferd’s work has been published and exhibited internationally.

His team’s recent projects include the Sankofa and Aleia installations in Harlem; the First Prize winning Africatown International Design Idea Competition proposal “In the Wake” in Mobile, AL; the BLKBOX in New York; and Beautiful Browns in St. Louis. Haferd has been commissioned to install Water Table, a permanent public artwork and plaza for New York’s East River Esplanade.

He is a core initiator of Dark Matter U, a BIPOC led trans-disciplinary network geared towards new models of design pedagogy and practice. Haferd received the 2022 #BlackVisionaries award as part of a DMU cohort and co-led the DMU Constellation exhibit at the 2022 Lisbon Architecture Triennale.

Donor -This award was generously supported by Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

This artist page was last updated on: 01.30.2025

Architecture & Design
From a low vantage point looking up, strips of gossamer fabric ribbons are mounted on metallic scaffolding. The fabric has been dyed a pale yellow with prints of orange leaves, ochre circles, and bold red diagonal lines. Glimpses of sky peek through the translucent fabric.

Sankofa by Jerome Haferd Studio, 2023.

Photo by Anna Dave.

An enormous glass building houses an austere-looking ship, like a very grand display case. The building is wrapped with a gentle curving metallic lattice resembling the open weave of a fishing net. Shadowy figures dance around the space.

“In the Wake” by Jerome Haferd Studio 2023. Concept for Clotilda Boathouse Archive. First Place Entry, International Africatown Design Competition.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

A digital rendering of a public space seen from above. Working left to right we see a tree-lined bike path and a stone tiled seating area where people lounge and face a small irregular shaped pool of water.

Water Table rendering by Jerome Haferd Studio, 2024.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

Sankofa by Jerome Haferd Studio, 2023.