Prakash Nair, AIA
Prakash Nair, AIA
Founding President & CEO,
Education Design International
Tampa, Florida, USA
About

An architect who came to schools through a single conviction.

Prakash Nair is one of the world's most sought-after authorities on the design of learning environments. An architect by training and a futurist by temperament, he has spent more than two decades arguing — and proving — that the spaces we build for children quietly shape what and how they are able to learn.

Over a career spanning 59 countries and six continents, he has helped schools, districts and ministries replace the familiar classroom-and-corridor model with environments organized around small learning communities, daylight, movement and choice. The thread running through all of it is a belief he states plainly: learning spaces are, first and foremost, about learning.

He is the Founding President & CEO of Education Design International, a firm dedicated exclusively to planning and designing innovative schools, where a team of specialists carries this work forward worldwide. He is the author of five books on educational design, a frequent keynote speaker, and a contributor of essays and research to publications including Harvard Education Press, Education Week and Edutopia.

For a more detailed bio, visit EDI.

26
Years designing learning environments
Countries across six continents
700+
Projects worldwide
5
Books authored
Recognition & roles

A practitioner, an author, an advocate.

The honor of this work has been the people in it — among them the late Sir Ken Robinson, with whom I had the privilege of spending time, and Harvard's Richard F. Elmore, a co-author and friend.

  • Registered architect, member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA)
  • Founding President & CEO, Education Design International
  • Author of five books, including a Harvard Education Press title and the first book ever commissioned by the Association for Learning Environments
  • Three-time keynote speaker at EduTech, Australia's largest education conference
  • TEDx speaker on the future of schools and learning
  • Published in Harvard Education Press, Education Week, Edutopia and peer-reviewed journals
Work with my team

Planning a school? Start with EDI.

The projects, the global team and the consulting work all live at Education Design International — the firm I founded and lead. This site is where I share the thinking behind it.

Education Design International
Founded & led by Prakash Nair
Education Design
International