Christopher Nelson AIA NCARB

I was Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota where I grew up as a 3 sport athlete through high school. My plan was to focus on architecture and play Division I football, however I decided to focus on architecture after my freshmen season for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers football team. In college, architecture and studio arts were my main academic focus. Combining the multidisciplinary influences of architectural studios with exploring sketching, painting and photography sparked my passion for creativity and led to my continued architectural exploration at the University of Illinois at Chicago for graduate school where studio projects incorporated building science and design concepts into one comprehensive curriculum. Immediately after graduation, I moved to Brooklyn and I’ve lived in NYC since.

My name is Christopher Nelson AIA NCARB and I am a licensed architect, artist and a designer so I switch between media often. After working 16 years in New York City for accomplished firms my professional experience built to the point where I could take on independent architectural projects. Since copyright of the design work doesn't allow me to share images of work created for other firms publicly, that information will not be shared on this website however my independent residential projects where I designed, documented and contributed to the construction process are now available.

In 2007 I was getting established living in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn and my sketchbooks were collecting dust so I decided to start a t-shirt line and lifestyle brand called RA-NYC. Promotion in the form of photo shoots and music videos were how I promoted the brand and collectively highlighting everyone involved was a priority. The work transitioned from focusing on t-shirts to creating original content including music videos, music projects, album art, among others but now that it can include architectural projects, RA evolved to include art, architecture and design. The brand also evolved from RA-NYC to RA.

Pursuit of becoming a licensed architect provided opportunities where work was more technical than creative. During those times I would paint, draw, create videos, design t-shirts, graphics and eventually experiment with music to create the balance I aspire to between the creative and technical sides of me personally because it also enhanced my abilities as an architect. Being in touch with both sides brings technical knowledge into the conceptual design phase naturally and it also keeps creative concepts present when detailing and realizing these concepts.

Urban architecture, sustainability, city life and Modernism are underlying influences for my architectural designs while mixed media, surrealism, graphic design, hip hop and graffiti influence my artwork. All things listed above influence my life and shape me as a person. I am strongly interested in designing energy efficient, modern residential spaces and the potential to design small (or tiny) spaces in any environment makes architecture an essential tool to addressing climate change and the evolving relationship between living, work and play. Over my career, I have gained experience designing retail stores, restaurants, single family homes, apartment buildings, hotels, office spaces, sports and entertainment buildings (among others). I welcome opportunities to explore architectural projects of all types: