The greening of green

Cindy Allen -- Interior Design, 6/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

When it comes to interior design, ecological is usually styled simply eco, but it might as well include an h, judging from the echo reverberating in our industry's hot spots. Let's face it: Eco is a Big Deal—a global umbrella under which disparate styles and opinions can coexist. Manufacturers are competing to act on the news. (Kudos!) Buyers are lining up. Designers are rallying to the cause in droves, packing innovative notions and lexicons along with the usual Pantone swatches.

Speaking of lexicons, I'd like to take this opportunity to state my deep aversion to the words disposable and waste. (There would be only one disposable product readily available, if I had my girlish way.) Despite all our progress, a pandemic of throwaways continues to ravage every market in the world, as governments contemplate punching more slimy holes in the ground to keep the merry petroleum party going.

What a breath of fresh air, then, to consider the thoughtfulness of Singita Lebombo, a South African game lodge where designer Boyd Ferguson made sure all buildings and materials could be trucked away in 20 years' time. And how envigorating to find green thoughts flourishing at home in corporate America. Take the Minneapolis headquarters of ad agency Fallon Worldwide, where Perkins & Will sur- faced a showstopping staircase in earth-friendly bamboo, which grows back quickly after cutting. These two installations—and the rest of our June portfolio—are ripe for exploration.

Buckling my Birkenstocks,

Cindy Allen