Julia Nakanishi | 中西樹李亜

is a designer and illustrator based in Toronto/Treaty 13 Territory. Learning through a post-capitalist perspective and land-based initiatives in rural Japan, Julia’s research and design work explores how designers can build relationships with communities in ways that resist the pressures of capitalist growth and environmental degradation, while also nourishing land, culture and kinship in the process.

Julia holds a Master of Architecture (M.Arch) and a Bachelor of Architectural Studies (B.AS) from the University of Waterloo, and has worked at international architecture and landscape design firms, including Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) in New York City, Atelier Bow-Wow in Tokyo, NL Architects in Amsterdam and PUBLIC WORK in Toronto. She is the 2023 recipient of the Prix de Rome for Emerging Practitioners in Architecture from the Canada Council of the Arts.