Born in Quezon City, Philippines, Isola Tong received her B.S. in Architecture from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila, and M.F.A from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Over the years, she has taught at De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde, University of California, and currently, at the University of the Philippines. Her broad academic experience and architectural training informed her interdisciplinary practice with an international reach.
Whether through the practice of basketry or other forms of weaving practices, including writing and artistic gatherings, she foregrounds the role of craft in challenging dominant technological, biological, and political narratives of acceleration from the perspective of the intertropics. As a trans theorist, she explores how the afterlife of empire shape gendered architectures and ecological explotiation; braiding worlds otherwise.
She was awarded the DAAD Artist-in-Berlin residency in 2026.
