Globally renowned designer Bruce Mau will teach a highly anticipated new course about life-centered design at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2026, as the inaugural Phillip A. Levy Fellow in Life-centered Design. Life-centered design is a holistic approach that accounts for design’s impact on all life — not just humans — across entire ecosystems.
In this interview, Mau shares his vision for life-centered design, why it’s perfectly paired with human ecology, and how young people perpetually inspire him.
What draws you to this opportunity?
I’m deeply honored to be the first recipient of this fellowship as it marks a significant, long-term commitment to advancing life-centered design. We have an incredible opportunity with the School of Human Ecology and UW–Madison to equip emerging leaders with the tools of life-centered design — placing all of life, not just humans, at the center of the design intention.
To achieve this, we must reframe and redefine who “WE” are in the study of Human Ecology. “WE” are not separate from, nor above, the ecologies and communities that sustain us. My hope is that this fellowship will radically expand who “WE” are in tackling our world’s most wicked problems. That “WE” includes all peoples, species and ecosystems, in a way which inspires us to take action.
Why is this the right time and place?
First of all, when I discovered that UW–Madison had an entire school dedicated to “human ecology” I thought: This is amazing! An entire school focused on how humans interact within larger ecologies and systems. What could be more important than that?
Our world needs action now. At Massive Change Network® (MCN), we believe that if we’re going to effectively tackle the increasingly complex and compounding challenges of our moment — at the speed and scale necessary — it will require roughly 100 million designers. While that number may sound ambitious, it’s only 1.25% of the global population. The fellowship is an inflection point in growing toward 100 million designers and UW–Madison is exactly the kind of forward-thinking institution that can accelerate the journey.
As a general principle, I love the Wisconsin Idea: the concept that education should influence people’s lives beyond the boundaries of the classroom. Much of my life’s work in design innovation has been focused on interdisciplinarity. For example, when we worked on the “MASSIVE CHANGE” exhibit and book in the early 2000s, our studio founded The Institute Without Boundaries, an experimental postgraduate initiative where students spent a full year in our studio, immersed in cross-discipline collaboration, research, development and production.
Similarly, the School of Human Ecology at UW–Madison sits at a powerful crossroads within the university — an engine of interdisciplinary thinking where design, science and technology converge. The fellowship has direct ties to the College of Engineering. And it’s precisely this kind of nexus thinking we need to innovate novel solutions.
How does your life’s work align with the values of Human Ecology?
At the heart of life-centered design is empathy — it’s the key to shaping a positive future. As designers, we have an ethical responsibility to create solutions of care that benefit our communities and the planet. That’s exactly what I see reflected in the leadership, initiatives, research and student ambitions at the School of Human Ecology. It’s all about designing for the greater good.
What energizes you about teaching and collaborating with students?
Our world thrives on cooperation and collaboration, and learning is truly a two-way street — it’s a flow, not a one-way transfer of knowledge.
Over the course of my career, it’s often been students — young people, more specifically — who have inspired and course-corrected me, pointing me toward unexpected breakthroughs as a designer. There’s a bigger story here, but if it hadn’t been for one student in particular raising her hand in a high school auditorium back in the early 2000s, I might not be thinking about life-centered design the way I do today.
In recent years, young actionists all over the world have continued to inspire me, taking on some of the world’s toughest problems and tackling them head-on — without the baggage that often comes with “expert” thinking. With this collaborative spirit in mind, I’m beyond excited to start working with the students at UW–Madison and get to work!
The School of Human Ecology and its Design Studies Department, in partnership with the Master of Science in Design + Innovation (MD+I) program, have named Bruce Mau as the inaugural Phillip A. Levy Fellow in Life-centered Design. The fellowship is believed to be the first of its kind in the world, made possible by a gift from UW–Madison alum Jeff Levy ’72 in memory of his brother, Phillip A. Levy ’64. Read more in the announcement story.