Boutique Design - March/April 2009 - (Page 32)

IN PROFILE bluarch architecture + interiors: Building Green into Design’s Future BY KELLEY GRANGER G This page: detail from Greenhouse, New York City’s first LEED certified nightclub; Right: Antonio Di Oronzo won the top spot in IIDA’s 36th Annual Interior Design Competition recognizing excellence in interior design in the hospitality category. reen may not have been an intentional focus for Antonio Di Oronzo before the market (and New York City) was ready for it, but now that it is, his firm, bluarch, is running with it. After heading up New York’s first LEED registered nightclub, Greenhouse, the firm has been advocating — and racking up — eco-friendly projects. “Since I’ve seen more attraction [to] sustainable projects, now I propose it to every client of ours,” Di Oronzo says. “Now I can propose something to a client that has direct financial benefits…depending on the project, we can find ways [to] make everything environmentally acceptable.” We’re not just talking nightclubs and hospitality though. Di Oronzo grew up in Italy surrounded by a family of builders who worked on roads, hotels, railroads and more. Perhaps being influenced by the varied projects he saw as a child, he’s now bending and blending his own playing field. Today, bluarch glides between residential, commercial and industrial projects, offering clients architecture, interior design and master planning services that pursue innovative materials and technological processes with zeal. “I always wanted to be open to all types of opportunities,” Di Oronzo says. “There are relevant consistencies throughout the creative process.” This outlook has helped bluarch achieve successes ranging from retail installations for Lancôme and Samsung to being chosen as the firm to bring the vision of Greenhouse to life. Di Oronzo and bluarch also made an appearance in the book “Demonstrating Digital Architecture,” which features work by 50 prominent international architects, designers and students that explores the link between digital concepts and the future of design. Di Oronzo’s contribution, called “House of Multiple Dimensions = Narrative of Spaces,” imagines a house where 32 • boutique DESIGN march/april 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Boutique Design - March/April 2009

Boutique Design - March/April 2009
Contents
Boutique Buzz
Marie Coleman, USGBC Communications Coordinator, on Green Building in Today’s Economy
Designer/ Philosopher Karim Rashid - In Profile
Business Sense: Social Networking for the Design Community
How the Merging Worlds of Eco-Consciousness and Wellness Affect Design
Looney & Associates Creates a Sustainable, One of a Kind Mountain Chic Hotel
Leading Hotel Companies, Including Kimpton, IHG, Wyndham and Best Western Talk Green
Antonio Di Oronzo, Bluarch Architecture + Interiors, on the Firm’s Sustainable Portfolio, Including Greenhouse, a LEED Certified Nightclub
How Art is Re-Shaping Hotel Design
PowerStrip Studio Designs Hutton Hotel, Nashville’s First Green Luxury Boutique
Shopping the Market: 12 Pages of Green Textiles, Bedding, Bath, Furniture, Wallcovering, Surfaces, Flooring, Lighting and Seating
Wanda Jankowski Shares Planet-Saving Bath Options
Calendar/Advertisers Index

Boutique Design - March/April 2009