William McDonough

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For other persons named William McDonough, see William McDonough (disambiguation).
William McDonough
Personal information
Name William McDonough
Nationality United States
Birth date February 21, 1951 (1951-02-21) (age 58)
Birth place Tokyo, Japan
Work
Practice William McDonough + Partners
Buildings Ford Motor Company's River Rouge Plant
Awards Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, National Design Award, Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award

William Andrews McDonough is an American architect and founding principal of William McDonough + Partners, and co-founder of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) with German chemist Michael Braungart. McDonough's career is focused on designing environmentally sustainable buildings and transforming industrial manufacturing processes.

Contents

[edit] Biography

McDonough was born in Tokyo, the son of an American Seagram's executive, and trained at Dartmouth College and Yale University.[1] In 1981 McDonough founded his architectural practice,[2] and his first major commission was the 1984 Environmental Defense Fund Headquarters.[3] The EDF's requirement of good indoor air quality in the structure exposed McDonough to the need for sustainable development.[4]

McDonough's practice is located in Charlottesville, Virginia, with a small office in San Francisco, California and Amsterdam, the Netherlands.[5] McDonough moved his practice from New York City to Charlottesville in 1994, when he was appointed as the Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia.[6] He relinquished this position in 1999 to focus on expanding his professional practice.[citation needed]

A number of large corporate projects for The Gap, Nike, and Herman Miller,[7] which focused on both a financial and environmental standpoint, led to his commission for a twenty-year, US$2 billion environmental re-engineering of the Ford Motor Company's legendary River Rouge Plant in Dearborn, Michigan. The project included rolling out the world's largest extensive "living roof" in October 2002. The roof of the 1.1 million square foot (100,000 m²) Dearborn truck assembly plant was covered with more than 10 acres (40,000 m²) of sedum, a low-growing ground cover.[8]

In 1996 McDonough became the first and only individual recipient of the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development.[9] In 1999 Time called him "Hero for the Planet".[10] In 2002 he wrote (with Michael Braungart) Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. In 2004 he received a National Design Award for environmental design from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.[11]

McDonough is also a Senior Advisor and Venture Partner at VantagePoint Venture Partners,[12] one of the largest venture capital investors in clean technology.[13]

After being named one of Fast Company Magazine's "Masters of Design" in 2004,[14] the same magazine followed up in 2008 with a more critical look at McDonough entitled "Green Guru Gone Wrong." [15] While acknowledging McDonough's contributions to the green movement, the article suggests that McDonough has been overly protective of his certification process, and in some instances has not inspired cooperation with other individuals and businesses. Some examples included McDonough's Huangbaiyu, China project that has not been inhabited due to design flaws, and Nike's shoe project that was not realized due to McDonough's unwillingness to share cradle-to-cradle specifications with suppliers.

[edit] Architectural works

[edit] Published works

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sacks, Danielle. "Green Guru Gone Wrong: William McDondough". Fast Company (Mansueto Ventures LLC). http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/130/the-mortal-messiah.html. 
  2. ^ "William McDonough: The 'Utopian' Architect". National Press Club (National Public Radio). 2002-04-24. http://www.npr.org/programs/npc/2002/020424.wmcdonough.html. "Founded in 1981, the team of some 40 architects practices ecologically, socially and economically "intelligent" architecture and planning in the United States and abroad." 
  3. ^ "William McDonough: The Original Green Man". BusinessWeek (McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.). 2007-03-27. http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/mar2007/id20070327_813651.htm. "Virginia's dean of green architecture talks about eco-efficiency, a multi-disciplinary approach, and the need for a new platform of thought." 
  4. ^ Shulman (2001-08-01). "Think Green". Metropolis Magazine. http://www.metropolismag.com/html/content_0801/mcd/. "But the project had a catch: the EDF told McDonough it would sue him if any of its employees took sick due to poor air quality or noxious substances in the construction. When McDonough asked his suppliers if they could provide him with a list of chemicals contained in their products, he was told it was proprietary information." 
  5. ^ "Contact Information". William McDonough + Partners. http://www.mcdonoughpartners.com/contact.shtm. "William McDonough + Partners maintains studios in Charlottesville, Virginia; San Francisco, California; and Amsterdam, The Netherlands." 
  6. ^ Hales, Linda (2005-08-27). "An Environmental Problem Slipping Through the Quacks". Washington Post (The Washington Post Company). http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/26/AR2005082601888.html. "In 1994 he moved the firm, William McDonough + Partners, to Charlottesville to become dean of architecture at the University of Virginia." 
  7. ^ "Client List". William McDonough + Partners. http://www.mcdonoughpartners.com/client_list.shtm. 
  8. ^ Hammonds, Don (2004-11-12). "Greener, literally: Ford's better ideas for newest plant include grass-covered roof, pollution-eating plants". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PG Publishing Co., Inc.). http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04317/410625.stm. 
  9. ^ "William McDonough: The Original Green Man". Business Week. 2007-03-27. http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/mar2007/id20070327_813651.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_innovation+%2Bamp%3B+design. 
  10. ^ Rosenblatt, Roger (1999-02-15). "The Man Who Wants Buildings to Love Kids". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/reports/environment/heroes/heroesgallery/0,2967,mcdonough,00.html. 
  11. ^ McGregor, Jena (2006-06-12). "William McDonough: Design For Living". http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_24/b3988037.htm. "...who won the National Design Award in 2004 from the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum of the Smithsonian Institution..." 
  12. ^ "William McDonough". http://www.vpvp.com/william_mcdonough. 
  13. ^ Hamilton, Tyler (2008-01-12). "Venture fund bets billion on cleantech". http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/546219. "We've got the largest and deepest team focused on cleantech and well over $1 billion allocated to it" 
  14. ^ "Masters of Design: William McDonough, June 2004". http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/83/mod_mcdonough.html. 
  15. ^ "Green Guru Gone Wrong: William McDonough, November 2008". http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/130/the-mortal-messiah.html. 

[edit] External links

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