Four Awards -

One Year

Who says you can’t do what you love and make the world a better place all at the same time?

Botanist has received much attention from organizations who seek to reward good design, all in just one year!  With a mission to solve macro level world issues through the participation of designers across the globe, it’s no wonder Botanist is making an impression.

Cooper-Hewitt People’s Design Award Nomination

Every year, Cooper-Hewitt gives out design awards chosen by a jury of distinguished design gurus—but do you agree with the experts? The Peoples Choice Award however is bestowed upon its winner by the public directly. Its power to the people! Whether it’s handmade or mass produced, high end or low brow, if it’s an example of good design, Cooper wants to know about it!

+ learn more about Cooper-Hewitt

IDEA (International Design Excellence Award) Nomination
The team behind Orange22’s Botanist project was thrilled to receive the news that the prestigious IDEA Awards nominated Botanist as a finalist for their Eco-Products Category.  The IDEA program is the premier international competition honoring design excellence in products, ecodesign, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research and concepts.  Entries are invited from designers, students and companies worldwide.

+ learn more about IDEA 

Spark Design Award - Silver
The 2008 Spark Design Awards put more than 360 entries under the microscope last month, with the best being selected by a jury of prestigious names in global design.  Spark is about change — designed change.  Change for the better: studied, researched, cognizant, cognizant of criteria like sustainability, suitability, context, inventiveness, process, universality — and yes, beauty.  Botanist is honored to have received such an award.

+ learn more about Spark

Contract Magazine’s Inspiration Award
Contract Magazine believes that the commercial design community plays a leadership role in furthering global efforts for social responsibility.  A $5,000 award was presented to Dario Antonioni (founder of Orange22 and creator of Botanist) to benefit the foundations supported by the winning work.  Antonioni spoke at the event and highlighted the importance of stepping beyond our egos to spread good through design and the passion that make us who we are.

+ learn more about Inspirations

Planting Seeds

of Inspiration

Botanist teams up with Tree People to showcase Ian Shive’s stunning national park photography book

Tree People Conference Center

An atmosphere of reflection exists inside and outside the facility

“Photography illustrates the passage of time.  Our evolving landscape consists of gargantuan trees that seem to have lived forever which mother the new trees just springing forth,” said Ian Shive at last week’s Tree People event.  The evening was set aside to highlight Shive’s first large print coffee table book “The National Parks: Our American Landscape,” featuring breathtaking pictures of the national parks.  Shive’s philosophy is that the powerful medium of photography has shaped our view of the environment in the past and can continue to shape those views in the future.

The building in which the event was held was Tree People’s Conference Center, designed by Marmol Radziner and Associates.  The facility is a model of sustainable architecture to conserve energy and water, and to reduce waste.  The Conference Center is certified at the LEED Platinum level by the U.S. Green Building Council - the highest rating possible.  Even the wall insulation was created from scraps of denim left over from the manufacture of jeans!  The Conference Center serves as a place for dialogue to promote sustainability in Los Angeles and cities around the world. 

Botanist was invited to provide seating for the event and the assortment of benches, cocktail tables and end tables added a splash of color to the interior.  Since the event attracted many sustainability-minded individuals, our eco-friendly products sparked a great interest in the Botanist mission.  Not only was Ian Shive’s photography inspiring for those who attended, but Botanist also planted seeds of inspiration through its green design and socially responsible platform.

 The ‘Flow’ bench provided a perfect place for conversation about the event

A playful arrangement of Botanist products worked well with visitors

Milton Glaser’s ‘Epigram’ end table was a nice resting place for Sarah Shewey, the Event Producer

 Botanist end tables, benches and cocktail tables served as the lounge

National Parks

Conservation

Protecting and enhancing America’s National Park System for future generations

Ian Shive Photography

Our nation’s parks and historic landmarks have been called the best idea America ever had, being that they are the most unique expression of our national character and values.  These parks are the most enduring icons of democracy and our American stories.

National Parks Conservation Association and its more than 320,000 members and supporters are committed to preserving the most diverse park system in the world for us now as well as for future generations.  Since 1919, NCPA has worked in and around our national parks conducting research and working with community leaders, park advocates, park staff, and state and federal legislators to ensure that our national parks are well funded, well managed, and well protected. 

Just as photographer Ian Shive seeks to capture the existing beauty currently present in our national parks, it should be our desire to be sure these sanctuaries and havens for the wild realize their potential as resources for national understanding, economic and environmental renewal, and personal inspiration.

Less is More

“Inspiration for the simple forms came from the notion of ‘blank canvas’.  Maximum surface area while creating a functional, strong and modular system of nest-able geometries was the goal.  Reducing the objects to minimal needs became a key design driver.”  -Dario Antonioni

Dario Antonioni, Creator of Botanist

 ‘Flow’ feels at home indoors and out

End Table

Cocktail Table

 Bench

Each Botanist piece includes an authentic stainless steel badge signed by the designer

Legendary designers Milton Glaser and Massimo & Lella Vignelli with Antonioni at the 2008 Chelsea Museum launch

A series of uninterrupted contoured forms compose Antonioni’s ‘Flow’ collection for Botanist, embodying design legend Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s aphorism of ‘Less is More.’  Antonioni mirrors this approach by striving towards design solutions with minimal framework and structural order, balanced against the implied freedom of free-flowing space. 

‘Flow’ fluently speaks the language of modernism with its radial curves and recycled aluminum anatomy, not to mention the smooth finished texture.  This collection emanates beauty in unwarranted simplicity reminiscent of Mies van der Rohe’s rational approach to architectural design.

So if less really is more, then why does the general population seek to clutter and confuse their spaces with unnecessary fluff?  It takes an uncommon level of self-control to master the art of minimalism.  A balance between the two poles of over-design and under-design is ultimately what leads to a successful and aesthetically pleasing solution.

As the founder of Orange22 Design Lab in Los Angeles, Dario Antonioni takes his cue from aviators like the Wright Brothers, refusing to abide by the often fiercly guarded distinctions between disciplines in design.  He calls himself a “maker of things” — a purposefully open-ended description, as Orange22 designs and fabricates both mass-market and limited-edition objects and furniture, brand-defining retail environments, residential interiors and design concepts licensed for mass production.  In every case, Antonioni fuses technology, art and design with the overarching intent to revolutionize the way we live.

Everyday Super Heroes 

Special Olympics celebrates what humanity has in common with focus on meeting needs

War, ethnic conflicts and threats of terror are constants in the 21st century.  But every day around the world, Special Olympics proves that people from all backgrounds, cultures, races and ages can work together peaceably to celebrate what we have in common and to focus on those in need.

Over the last 40 years, athletes with intellectual disabilities have come together to compete, even when they represent nations or areas that have been divided.  With over 3 million athletes in 150 various countries, Special Olympics is clearly an unstoppable cause providing exceptional opportunities for achievement and learning. 

“My older brother Pablo has downs syndrome,” says Antonioni.  “Throughout my life, I’ve dedicated time as a Special Olympics coach, teacher and friend to the downs community.  The experience changed my life.  Pablo is a reminder to me of our own purity, delicacy, simplicity and what it takes to nuture true, unwavering love.  He makes us all special and that is why I have chosen the Special Olympics as my charity of choice.”

The ‘Flow‘ series by Dario Antonioni donates funds to Special Olympics.  By purchasing a ‘Flow’ end table, cocktail table or bench you vicariously support our everyday super heroes.