Ellen Babcock

Fresh eyes, creative entrepreneurship, and a sense of joy are the necessary ingredients for the creative reuse of undervalued items and places. Using their experience on an urban design project that spans the length of Route 66, Ellen Babcock and Mark Childs illustrate the power of creative reuse, its impact, and its implications for communities.

Ellen Babcock Bio:

Ellen Babcock draws inspiration dually from historical landscapes and a panoply of often scavenged or re-used materials for her sculptures, installations and public projects. She is an Associate Professor of Sculpture at the University of New Mexico and the founding director of Friends of the Orphan Signs (FOS), a winner of the Americans for the Arts Public Art Year in Review award that places collaboratively produced public art in abandoned road signs. Ellen co-authored The Zeon Files: the Art and Design of Historic Route 66 Signs with co-speaker Mark Childs, which received a New Mexico State Heritage publication award. Ellen is a New England transplant who is now happy to call Albuquerque home.

Hannah Feil Greenhood

Bio:

Hannah Feil Greenhood, AIA, WELL AP, LEED AP BD+C, Fitwel Ambassador
Associate / Architect, Dekker/Perich/Sabatini

Hannah Feil Greenhood is an architect and wellness advocate bridging design and health in the built environment. Passionate about design, technology, the environment, and creating places for communities to grow, her work focuses on bringing health and wellbeing to the forefront of design. One of the first WELL Accredited Professionals in the country, the first WELL AP in New Mexico and a certified Fitwel Ambassador, Hannah has actively worked to bring health and wellness into the design, construction and operations of many building typologies through evidence-based design concepts that enhance the health of building occupants. A New Mexico Native with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of Washington and a Master of Architecture from the University of Oregon, Hannah actively participates in her community as an emerging health coach and devoted K-8 classroom volunteer teaching STEM through architectural concepts.

Jaime Jaramillo

By forming a coalition of residents, policymakers, business owners, and other key stakeholders, the city of Alamogordo, New Mexico is designing a brand that will revitalize its once-vibrant downtown area. Through this real-world case study, Jaime describes how place branding, a multifaceted design exercise, bridges the gap between differing perceptions of place and forms mutually beneficial partnerships among civic institutions and residents.

Bio:

Jaime Jaramillo is a planner with Consensus Planning, a New Mexico planning, landscape architecture, and urban design firm. Jaime has several years’ experience in land use planning, development codes, and community engagement processes. Prior to joining Consensus Planning, Jaime worked as an urban designer and planner for a private sector firm on projects throughout California and Texas. Since joining Consensus Planning, Jaime’s projects have included several comprehensive plans, master plans, metropolitan redevelopment area plans, and urban infill projects throughout New Mexico including her recent work with the City of Alamogordo on their Comprehensive Plan and Downtown Metropolitan Redevelopment Area Plan. Jaime earned a Bachelor of Environmental Planning and Design from University of New Mexico and a Master of City and Regional Planning from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo with a concentration in Urban Design.

John-Mark Collins

Bringing Space to Life: Using place-based design to activate physical space

What if you could bring an existing space to life by making it interactive? What if you didn’t have to wear a headset or hold up a phone or some other cumbersome device to augment the world around you? In this era of virtual and augmented reality, designers are sending you to completely new worlds, but removing you from the world around you. John-Mark’s ventures, including his company, Storylab, explore ways to activate space using technology. John-Mark’s goal is turn peoples’ attention from their screens to the magic of the physical world. Focusing on everything from brand engagement to active play, Storylab has created installations that speak to the power of an activated world–a world unfiltered by a headset and felt by your own hands.

Bio:

Born in Ohio and raised by creatives in Cleveland, John-Mark moved to New Mexico 13 years ago to complete his education and explore the southwest. John-Mark is a creative problem solver whose passion lies in using technology to augment the real world in beautiful and engaging ways. John-Mark earned a B.S. in Computer Engineering and MBA from the University of New Mexico. In addition to technology, John-Mark has studied both art and architecture and has participated in several public electronic arts exhibitions. John-Mark founded Storylab, an experience design group, in Albuquerque in 2016 to further explore the use of technology to activate, engage, and entertain people in a variety of venues and locations.

Katya Crawford

Ephemeral landscape installations have the power to transform mundane locales into places of curiosity and wonder and draw attention to social, political, and environmental issues. Katya tells the story of how a thirty-foot long table, an abstracted death row prison cell, and a pop-up park brought a community together, sparked conversation about global issues, and offered a vibrant, democratic space in Albuquerque’s downtown for all to enjoy. Katya illustrates how the power of design, passion, and just a little bit of money can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary in urban public spaces.  

Bio:

Katya Crawford grew up on a small organic farm in a Northern New Mexican village. Her connection to the land and background in social work and art greatly influence her work as an educator and maker. She has exhibited work and given lectures nationally and internationally on the power of ephemeral landscape installations to make positive change. Katya is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of New Mexico and past president of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture.

Mark Childs

Fresh eyes, creative entrepreneurship, and a sense of joy are the necessary ingredients for the creative reuse of undervalued items and places. Using their experience on an urban design project that spans the length of Route 66, Ellen Babcock and Mark Childs illustrate the power of creative reuse, its impact, and its implications for communities.

Mark Childs Bio:

Mark Childs is dedicated to creating vibrant towns and fascinated by how stories shape their aspects. He is the author of several books on the subject of urban design including The Zeon Files with Ellen Babcock and has written and published more than two dozen science fiction poems. Mark serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Urban Design and the University of New Mexico Press. A Fulbright Scholar, Mark is the Associate Dean for Research at the University of New Mexico’s School of Architecture and Planning.