Building a Better Future One Design at a Time

William McDonough, the famed green architect and co-author of the book Cradle to Cradle, is inherently optimistic about the world rising to the challenge of designing better products, homes and businesses. McDonough has worked on some groundbreaking projects including the large-scale redesign of the Ford Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan and the Environmental Studies Building at Oberlin College.McDonough has been leading the way for architects and designers to think more critically about creating designs to benefit society, the environment and the bottom line, and believes the design community plays a critical role in helping shape society for the better.

McDonough believes a growing eco-efficient movement will not only benefit the environment but the economy as well. Renewable energy technology, elegantly integrated into our homes and businesses, will wean us off oil thirsty systems, promote job creation and build domestic industry.In McDonough’s book, Cradle to Cradle co-written by chemist Michael Braungart, there is a call to designers, engineers and industrialists to look to nature to solve some of the great problems facing the world today. Instead of creating single use, disposable and opportunistic products, Cradle to Cradle champions the design of systems, buildings and products that will not end up in landfills as waste or pollutants, but as resources for other products and industries.

The forward thinking of William McDongough is clearly evident and has not gone unnoticed by the major corporations of the world. By working with leaders in numerous industries, McDonough is leading the way for a sea change in the environments and products we interact with on a daily basis.

Cradle to Cradle Website
Discover Magazine Interview with William McDonough
Ford Rouge Center
Evironmental Studies Building at Oberlin College