Eric Higbee

Lecturer + Affiliate Faculty

Eric Higbee is a licensed landscape architect and community organizer passionate about involving communities in the design of their public spaces. Eric’s work includes pioneering projects such as the UpGarden (the country’s first rooftop community garden), Marra Farm (Seattle’s first Urban Farm) and the Wallybug (Seattle’s first painted intersection mural). Eric has also led many participatory design processes with low-income minority populations in South Seattle, including the Community Farm at Rainier Vista, New Holly Youth and Family Garden, and the Maa Nyei Lai Ndeic P-Patch.

Currently the Design Director at the Pomegranate Center, Eric has managed numerous local, regional and national projects of all types and scales. In part through his professional experience at several Seattle design firms, including Gustafson Guthrie Nichol and Murase Associates, he has served on multi-disciplinary teams with architects, artists, engineers, developers and public agencies through all phases of the design and construction process. Eric’s design approach incorporates a keen eye for conceptual design with a deep knowledge of construction detailing and process. He is familiar with a diverse range of sustainable techniques and practices and has an intuitive knowledge of plants and their uses.

Eric holds an MLA from the University of Washington, and has a BFA in Illustration & Graphic Design from the Rochester Institute of Technology. When he is not conspiring to implement his latest community building effort, you can find Eric working in his garden, backpacking in the mountains, or spending time with his family.