Press Releases

Greenbridge Breaks Ground
(10.08.07)

Habitat To Spend €59.5 Million on Ecourban Offices in Barcelona
(7.12.05)

Frito-Lay Distribution Center a Prototype for Environmentally Intelligent Design
(6.23.05)

Guangtang Chuangye Park Will Please the People of Liuzhou
(5.26.05)

McDonough To Headline 2005 FORTUNE Global Forum
(5.9.05)

Nation's Top Environmental Design Award Presented to William McDonough
(10.20.04)

Two DC Chapter/AIA Awards for Aspect
(10.14.03)

Woods Hole Research Center
(07.07.03)

Atlanta International Museum Exhibit
(08.14.02)

DC Chapter/AIA Award for Nike EHQ
(11.10.01)

Adoption of the CERES Principles
(06.07.01)

William McDonough Named International
Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects

Sustainable design pioneer is one of seven new RIBA Fellows.

The Royal Institute of British Architects' (RIBA) Council has approved seven new International Fellowships of the RIBA. International Fellowships reward the particular contributions non-UK architects have made to architecture. The lifetime honor is conferred annually. The RIBA International Fellowships will be presented on 12 February 2007 at the RIBA in London.

William McDonough has been honored "for his pioneering work in sustainable design," according to the RIBA Citation. It further states: "William McDonough is an architect and designer who has received the National Design Award, the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award and the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development. He has been a leader in the sustainable development movement, designing the first solar-heated house in Ireland in 1977 and the first 'green office' in the U.S. for the Environmental Defense Fund in 1985. He is founder and principal of two design firms: William McDonough + Partners and McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). A recognized leader in sustainable design and development, McDonough writes and speaks extensively on his two practices and holds posts including board member for the Management Committee of HRH The Prince of Wales’s Business & The Environment Programme at Cambridge University."

RIBA President Sunand Prasad said: "Architecture is a global business.  As an international organisation (RIBA has more than 3,000 overseas members), the Institute recognizes the quality of the work done by architects the world over.  We therefore welcome as RIBA members seven architects—from India, Finland, the United States, Brazil and Japan—whose work represents not only the spirit of their countries but also transcends it to become truly international in its reference and influence." In addition to McDonough, the RIBA's new International Fellows include Americans Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam, as well as Yoshio Taniguchi , Balkrishna Doshi, Juha Leiviskä, and Paulo Mendes da Rocha.

This year's RIBA International Fellows jury was chaired by RIBA President Sunand Prasad and included Peter Davey OBE, Sir Jeremy Dixon, Kenneth Frampton, Despina Katsikakis, Pankaj Patel and Jane Wernick Hon FRIBA. The RIBA International Fellows honor was created in 2006.  It replaces the RIBA Honorary Fellowship for non-UK architects whose outstanding work the RIBA wishes to mark. All existing non-UK architect Honorary Fellows were invited to become International Fellows. Odile Decq, Kazuyo Sejima, Mario Botta, Herman Hertzberger, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, Imre Macovecz, Alvaro Siza, Kenzo Tange and Peter Zumthor, and other have previously been awarded this honor.

"RIBA has long celebrated the value of design and the role of architecture," said McDonough. "Its International Fellows program recognizes the context of the global community and the interdependence of nations, which is especially important as society and designers address climate change and growing populations. I am honored to be in this company."

Press Contacts:

Kira Gould, William McDonough + Partners
media@mcdonough.com

Dorelia Baird-Smith, RIBA Press Office
011 020 7307 3884, dorelia.baird-smith@inst.riba.org