Distinguished Lecture Series showcases green designer

Internationally renowned designer William McDonough spoke at the Morrison Center Thursday evening, as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series. McDonough is one of the primary proponents of “The Next Industrial Revolution.”

McDonough’s lecture consisted of economic and ecological facts and how they affect the way he designs.

The goal of The Next Industrial Revolution is a diverse, safe, healthy world with clean air, water, soil and power.

Right now there is six times more plastic as plankton in the Pacific Ocean, which can expedite climate change as well as water and air pollution.

McDonough suggested that humans have become tragic by design and we are not doing much to fix the problem.

“Being less bad is not being good. Slowing down is not going to help us,” said McDonough. “Just slowing down isn’t going to do much for a change. We need to do the right thing the right way.”

McDonough emphasized that our world ecology is suffering in unpredictable magnitudes.

As the population grows – along with the need for more buildings, Hummers, production plants and extra large homes – the damage will just keep escalating.

Less than a third of the 104 chemicals used in manufacturing have been tested for the effects on human health.

One million people are moving into cities every week, urbanism is booming, and little is being done to control ecologic damage.

McDonough’s proposal for this is to design buildings like trees and cities – like forests.

“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,” McDonough said.

His efforts have certainly not gone unnoticed. Time Magazine recognized him in 1999 as a “Hero for the Planet,” stating that his utopianism is grounded in a unified philosophy that demonstrates practical ways to change the design of the world.

In 1996 he became the first and only individual to receive the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, the nation’s highest environmental honor. He has also earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award as a member of the EcoWorx development team for Shaw Industries.

Currently he is a consulting professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, U.S. Chair of the Board of Councilors of the China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development and Chair of the Board of Councilors of the Overseers for the Center for Eco-Intelligent Management at the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, Spain. He is a board member for the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment, as well as a part of the Management Committee of HRH The Princeof Wales’s Business and The Environment Programme at Cambridge University. He is also a venture partner with VantagePoint Venture Partners.

Student fees primarily support the Distinguished Lecture Series along with the additional support of corporate sponsors.

The series was created to promote the discussion of important issues.

Lectures occur once in the fall and spring semesters.

According to Kathleen Craven, DLS committee member and assistant director for University Communications and Marketing, the committee looks for a variety of topics that will be interesting for students and the community.

“We look for people who truly distinguish themselves in their fields,” Craven said. Craven feels McDonough was a good choice right now because sustainability is a huge issue on campus.

“I like the idea of bringing lecturers to campus. I think it adds to the experience of students and faculty,” Craig Hemmens, Honors College Director and Professor, said.

The DLS committee is comprised of students, faculty and staff.

The DLS committee will soon be hard at work to bring the next distinguished speaker for the fall.

SONIA TREVIZO
News Writer

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