Frank Lloyd Wright is the architect most think of as the father of green, sustainable architecture. Working mainly in the first half of the 20th century, Wright pioneered the philosophy of organic architecture, beloved by Eric Corey Freed, which takes into account the nature of a site, needs of the client and nature of the […]

Considered Canada’s leading green architect, Peter Busby was named managing director of the San Francisco office of Perkins + Will — a large, international architecture firm known for its sustainable projects — in April 2012. Long before Busby joined forces with Perkins + Will in 2004, though, he was seeing green; Busby’s mentor was sustainability […]

There’s no denying William McDonough is an influential green architect. He received the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development — America’s highest environmental honor — in 1996, the first U.S. EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in 2003, and, in 2004, the National Design Award for exemplary achievement in environmental design. He also designed such green […]

Architect Ken Yeang may hail from tiny Malaysia, but his achievements in green architecture loom large. Yeang first went green in the 1970s, penning a doctoral dissertation on ecological design and planning. From there, he went on to his much-lauded career, which includes creating the “bioclimatic skyscraper,” a type of high-rise now used in various […]

Italian architect Renzo Piano is widely considered one of the most influential green architects today. Yet he doesn’t let environmental considerations limit his ideas by forcing him to consider only stereotypical green building shapes or materials or components. Instead, he lets his imagination fly, then incorporates eco-friendly elements into the resulting structures [source: Green Architects]. […]

Many people recognize the term LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, as a positive, green designation. And it is — it’s an internationally recognized mark of excellence that’s given to structures that meet certain sustainable qualifications [source: U.S. Green Building Council]. But architect Thom Mayne, the 2005 Pritzker Architecture Prize winner (aka the […]