Akima Brackeen

Akima Brackeen

Akima Brackeen an Assistant Professor or Architecture at the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign and the director of Exhibit A, a design practice focused on investigating the social, political, and ecological dimensions of water access in order to reveal the systems of power and care. Through design, art, and research she examines the material traces that shape perceptions and values within the built environment.

Akima was awarded the 2025-26 Lily Auchincloss Rome Prize in Architecture by the American Academy in Rome and was selected as a  University Design Research Fellow  for the 2024-25 cycle of Exhibit Columbus,  a 2025 Global Goals Award by the United Nations Association- Chicago. Her work has been exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennial U.S. Pavillion,  Princeton University School of Architecture Gallery, Van Alen Institute, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago.

Previously, she worked in the offices of David Baker Architects in San Francisco, California, and MASS Design in Kigali, Rwanda, and was the inaugural Rowe Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).