This article was originally published by Metropolis Magazine as "Why Architects Must Rethink Carbon (It's Not the Enemy We Face)."

William McDonough + Partners and Aecom's <a href='http://www.archdaily.com/231211/nasa-sustainability-base-william-mcdonough-partners-and-aecom'>NASA Sustainability Base</a> in California. Image © William McDonough + Partners

This article was originally published by Metropolis Magazine as "Why Architects Must Rethink Carbon (It's Not the Enemy We Face)."Metropolis editor in chief Susan Szenasy sits down with William McDonough?the designer, author, and developer of Cradle to Cradle design?to understand why we must begin to employ a new language regarding carbon and sustainable design.Susan Szenasy: Your article in Nature, ?Carbon is Not the Enemy,? really caught my attention. You're redefining how we think about carbon, what it is, and what we should be looking for. It seems like a new phase that you're leading us to. How did you come up with this idea, that there needs to be a new language on carbon" Can you trace back your thought process"William McDonough: [With the UN?s Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015,] everybody kept saying, "Oh, we have to do this, to reduce our carbon 20% by 2020." Well, when you think about that Susan, it's absurd. What you're telling us is what you're not going to do. You?re going to reduce your badness by 20% by 2020" That w...