PARK Magazine

SHELTER
chair. It’s timeless for any designer. People would
usually come to me because I could scale the room
and had a holistic attitude. Frank Lloyd Wright was
completely holistic, so I always gravitated towards
him. He was a hero.”
In addition to designing custom work for clients,
he has also made furnishings, textiles and hardware
for major companies including Jim Thompson Fabrics.
Still, he is most passionate about creating designs
which are not only stylish, but more importantly,
sustainable, something which he believes is now
synonymous with a new kind of luxury. Campion is
a major advocate of green architecture and green
design. He always does what is most ecological for
himself, his family and the world. Being sustainable
is a lifestyle for Platt, which drives how he lives his
life – literally, as he has an electrically run Tesla in his
garage. As an expert in technology, Platt also prioritizes
efficiency and streamlined comfort for a truly smart
home. He also worked on green development for the
Greenbrier Resort. “I need a space to be an oasis where
people can remain calm.”
Campion would like to see an even greater ecofriendly
evolution. Change and awareness has indeed
increased over the last five years, and it remains
mandatory for government buildings in the US to be
eco-conscious, but there is still not enough interest
to convince politicians in other countries to change
their ways yet. “When it comes to design, using or
repurposing classical furniture is more sustainable,
but in our high-level interior design niche world, the
client is looking more for a look,” explains Campion.
“What is the real impact, for instance, of using a product
like bamboo which uses a lot of water? This is a wildly
changing environment so I’m always reading, and
listening to TED Talks. I currently have a few climate
projects I’m working on myself, including the Audubon
Sanctuary in Palm Beach near Mar-A-Lago, where we
are trying to eliminate non-native plants. I’ve been
partnering with Katie Carpenter, an eco-filmmaker,
as we try to heal the islands.”
He is also involved in an interesting project centered
around budget hotels. “I embarked on a road trip
where I stayed in over a dozen budget hotels. What
I’m most interested in is the land which is not being
used by the hotel. The bird and bee populations are
down, and yet they are responsible for 30 percent of
the food, and that’s because some animal that has
pollinated it. I’m part of a hotel project which is in the
process of purchasing budget hotels such as a Ramada
Inn or Choice Hotels or below that grade. There are
50-100,000 types of these hotels across the country.
The idea is to do an eco-design, but even more than
that, it’s about rewiring the land and hopefully leading
the way to change, locally and globally. From the top
bee guy to an ornithologist, we are figuring out the