SoA Lecturer Series: William Leddy, FAIA

Architects and designers have an historic opportunity to be leaders in these uncertain times – to employ the transformative power of design to address some of society’s greatest challenges: advancing climate change, homelessness, disability rights, aging with dignity, and innovative education. William Leddy, FAIA, will discuss how our profession can design beyond the property lines to help lead our communities toward a just, resilient and hopeful future for all. Providing context and examples from his firm’s practice, he will describe approaches to “mission-driven design” at two scales. Within the work: how can simple tools and strategies help to integrate ecological design thinking and social relevance within every project? Beyond the work: how can citizen-architects advocate for rapid changes in our design culture and in public policy to accelerate the arrival of a low-carbon future? It’s ALL design.

 

William Leddy, FAIA, is a Founding Principal of San Francisco-based LEDDY MAYTUM STACY Architects (LMSA), the 2017 recipient of the national AIA Firm Award. For over 30 years, he has been a national leader in the design of environments that celebrate our place in the natural world. LMSA has received over 175 regional, national and international design awards and has been recognized by numerous organizations including the American Institute of Architects, the French Institute of Architects, the Norwegian Association of Architects, the U.S. Department of Energy, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the National Building Museum. The firm is one of only three in the nation to have received ten or more national AIA Committee on the Environment Top Ten Green Project awards. Leddy has lectured widely and served as visiting professor at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and the California College of the Arts, as the Howard A. Friedman Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Pietro Belluschi Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Oregon.