Christine Hempel

Urban Designer: Hempel Design Group, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Christine is an urban designer, teacher, researcher and illustrator with a passion for building ecologically healthy and beautiful communities.

With an academic background in architecture, planning and community design, she works creatively with developers, citizen groups, researchers and students to transform landscapes, buildings, neighbourhoods and cities into engaging, beautiful and sustainable places. Her unique playful approach brings diverse people together and combines community-based planning techniques with socio-ecological design strategies.

Christine is currently an Artist and Innovator in Residence at Halifax Public Libraries, and as part of her program is engaging Halifax residents to imagine their future city using an Eco-City Exhibition and workshop program. To each new project, Christine combines a researcher’s curiosity with a designer’s visionary capacity, and she continues to find new ways of communicating with diverse audiences.

Christine has designed at a variety of scales - a new vision for an abandoned warehouse in a small town, detailed designs and planting plans for civic gardens and parks, master plans for residential developments and campuses, and visions for revitalizing core urban areas. Research projects have focused on affordable housing, landscape perception, children’s play experiences, and place-making.