Designer / Researcher / Educator
Zahra’a Nasralla is an interdisciplinary artist and designer based in Queens. With a background in architecture and industrial design, their practice weaves together cultural storytelling, communal care, and hands-on making. Teaching is an important part of their work, guided by a decolonial pedagogy that challenges dominant narratives, values reflection and multiple ways of knowing, and treats process as just as important as the final result. From teaching to building spaces for belonging, Zahra’a approaches design as a way to create, connect, reflect, and learn. They have taught at Pratt Institute and currently serve as Studio Coordinator at Mariam Issoufou Architects.
Work Experience
Mariam Issoufou Architects,
May 2025 - Present
Studio Coordinator
Pratt Institute, Foundation Department,
August 2024 - May 2025
Visiting Instructor
Teaching Assistant - Exhibit/Experience Capstone Studio with Professor Kate Hixon
Pratt Institute, Industrial Design Department,
January - May 2024
Pratt Institute, Industrial Design Department,
September 2023 - May 2024
Teaching Assistant - Senior Industrial Design Studio with Professor Karol Murlak
Graduate Research Assistant - MAKEwild with Leslie Mutchler and Jason Urban of JULMstudios
Pratt Institute, JULMstudios
September - December 2023
Pratt Institute,
January 2022 - May 2023
Graduate Assistant - Laser Lab Specialist
Pratt Institute,
January - May 2023
Graduate Assistant - CNC Lab Specialist
Pratt Institute,
January - May 2023
Teaching Assistant - Art of the Book with Professor Miriam Schaer
Pratt Institute,
September - December 2022
Teaching Assistant - Sophomore 3D Form with Professor Alvaro Uribe
Fikra Design Studio,
February 2019 - May 2021
Community Outreach Executive - Fikra Campus
Fikra Design Studio,
December 2019
Exhibition Production Manager - Fikra Designer-in-Residence 2019 Exhibition
Fikra Design Studio,
November 2018
On-site Project Manager - Fikra Graphic Design Biennial 01
The American University of Sharjah,
February - December 2019
Shading Structure Fabricator - Neonomads 2.0
Sharjah Gateway to Trucial States,
July - August 2018
Intern Architect - UNESCO nomination file for Sharjah, U.A.E.
American University of Sharjah, The College of Architecture, Art, and Design,
September 2017 - May 2018
Teaching Assistant - Art and Architectural History with Professor John Montague
Dewan Architects and Engineers,
July - August 2016
Intern Architect