William McDonough

Background

An architect, designer, and sustainability pioneer, William McDonough is the co-author of the landmark classic Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (2002). He also co-wrote The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability-Designing for Abundance (2013). He’s the founding principal of William McDonough + Partners, Charlottesville, Virginia, an architecture and community design firm. He is also the co-founder and principal, with German chemist Michael Braungart, of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), which employs Cradle to Cradle design protocols for materials assessment and sustainability optimization. In 1999, Time magazine named him a “Hero for the Planet.” In 1996, he received the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development. In 2003, he received the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for his work in science and industrial production. And in 2004, he received the U.S. National Design Award recognizing the best in American design. One of his most famous projects is an eco-friendly restoration of the city-size Ford Motor River Rouge Complex near Dearborn, Michigan, featuring the world's largest green roof. For NASA's Research Center's Sustainability Base in Moffett Field, California, he designed a facility that over time will provide more energy than it uses. McDonough co-founded the Make It Right Foundation New Orleans with Brad Pitt. The organization is dedicated to rebuilding the Lower Ninth Ward after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, featuring PV panels, water cisterns, and rain gardens. This past speaker page shares his podium presentation as well as the Q&A.