It’s not every day that a Charlottesvillain gets a 6 page feature article in Vanity Fair.
I haven’t heard of William McDonough until I read this article in Vanity Fair. He has an office in Charlottesville and he’s pretty much a baller. He brings a philosophy and vision for modern design and architecture. The front of his site reads:
I believe we can accomplish great and profitable things within a new conceptual framework—one that values our legacy, honors diversity, and feeds ecosystems and societies . . . It is time for designs that are creative, abundant, prosperous, and intelligent from the start.
But, in a nutshell McDonogh’s thinking a can be thought of a as mission to bring our consumption habits back to a natural life cycle. I don’t think I can really do a better job than the Vanity Fair article or the video below, but this guy is pretty amazing.
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Tagged as: Celebrities, Charlottesville, energy, Environment, green, McDonough, Thinkers, Vanity Fair, William
I have to say if you don’t have the full 20 minutes to watch the video, fast forward to the last 4 minutes to learn about the CITY THEY ARE BUILDING IN CHINA. It’s so green I don’t know what to think.
He is also the co-author of Cradle to Cradle which is a pretty famous book (printed on recycled paper I believe)
http://www.mcdonough.com/cradle_to_cradle.htm
They have some really interesting ideas. I remember reading in one part where he said something about placing a seed in the bottom of plastic bottles and making them biodegradable so that if someone littered It could have a positive instead of a negative effect. I don’t know how feasible that actually is but I thought it was a cool way to look at it.
McDonough is really a pioneer - that’s probably an understatement…
Cradle to Cradle is really, really worth reading!
It’s a great example of “be the change you want to see in the world” - here’s the money quote:
In addition to describing the hopeful, nature-inspired design principles that are making industry both prosperous and sustainable, the book itself is a physical symbol of the changes to come. It is printed on a synthetic ‘paper,’ made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers, designed to look and feel like top quality paper while also being waterproof and rugged. And the book can be easily recycled in localities with systems to collect polypropylene, like that in yogurt containers. This ‘treeless’ book points the way toward the day when synthetic books, like many other products, can be used, recycled, and used again without losing any material quality—in cradle to cradle cycles.
McDonough is probably the best known “green” architect in the world. Fun fact: Property record show homeboy owning a 4,000 square foot mansion in Farmington. Now I’m not passing judgement–for all I know he has “greened” the hell out of it. But you always expect such people to live in a solar panel yurt in the woods–or at least I do.
Thor, hard to believe you’ve never heard of him. He is (was?) UVA’s most famous prof, or at least tied with Sabato.
He is extremely awesome, and he’d be the first to admit it.
He is extremely awesome, and he’d be the first to admit it. (pretend that was italicized).
that’s kinda funny.
i am going to check out the book. does anyone know if he is still teaching at Uva?- i am guessing at the A school…?
@6: No he does not. He was the Dean of the School of Architecture, but resigned in 1999 to focus on his professional practice.
thanks, echo…
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