Founder. Designer. City-Builder.
Emeka Nnadi's work sits at the intersection of design, development, and civic imagination. Born in Nigeria and shaped by professional practice across Nigeria, the United States, and Canada, he has spent his career asking a deceptively simple question: how do we create places that help people live better lives?
That question has led him from architecture studios in Lagos and Chicago to the farmland southwest of Winnipeg — where, over two decades, he helped turn 600 hectares of provincially owned land into communities now home to thousands of families.
A Practice Shaped by Three Continents
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Enugu, Nigeria
Bachelor of Architecture, Enugu State University of Technology. Foundational practice in architecture across Nigeria.
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Winnipeg, Canada
Master of Landscape Architecture (Urban Design), University of Manitoba (graduated 2000). Established Canadian base.
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Chicago, USA
Landscape architect and development manager. Cross-border experience across design and real estate development.
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Winnipeg — Smith Carter
Discipline Manager, Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning. Honed urban design, team leadership, and project management.
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2010 — Nadi Founded
Founded Nadi Design in Winnipeg — a boutique consultancy addressing global environmental issues through smart, scalable, relevant projects.
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2013
TEDxManitoba speaker: "The Transformative Power of Play."
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2019 — Nadi Group
Strategic merger with Donald Westphal Associates (50-year legacy land planning firm, Michigan). Nadi Design became Nadi Group.
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2022
Jury Member & Roundtable Moderator, RAIC/CIP/CSLA National Urban Design Awards.
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2024
City of Winnipeg names Emeka Nnadi Park in Bridgwater — first Winnipeg park named after a member of the African community.
On the Future of Communities
The next era of development will belong to those who can converge disciplines: land economics, urban design, modular housing, decentralised infrastructure, climate resilience, food systems, mobility, governance, and human experience.
Too many plans fail not because the design was wrong, but because the delivery model wasn't built to support it. Emeka's career has been shaped by the belief that vision and execution are not separate acts — they are a single, integrated discipline.
Having practiced in Nigeria, the United States, and Canada, he brings a cross-continental perspective that most community designers in any single market simply don't have access to.
"I believe in making the world better through the playful application of emerging technologies in the development of places where people live, work, and play."
— Emeka Nnadi