Nancy Chikaraishi AIA is an Associate Professor in the Hammons School of Architecture at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri. Prior to teaching she practiced architecture in Milwaukee and Chicago for 15 years. She is a principal ofArt & Architecture, LLC. She received her Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois, Urbana. She co-led three design/build projects with students in Joplin, MO after the 2011 tornado: The Volunteer Tribute, The Butterfly Garden and Overlook healing garden and the Monarch Eco-House for Greentown Joplin, a sustainable, disaster resilient, educational demonstration home. She is currently working on a disaster resilient home for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon 2015 competition. Drury University with Crowder College is one of 18 schools chosen to compete in this net zero energy house competition.
Chikaraishi was awarded First Alternate in the Paris Prize design competition. Her drawing research has explored urban space and imaginarylandscapes. A solo exhibition explored her parents’ experiences in the Japanese-American Internment camps in Rohwer, Arkansas. This work was recently on exhibit at the WWII Internment Camp Museum in McGehee, AR where her parents were interned.
