 |
BIOAtom Cianfarani beginning their exploration of reuse and repurposing in the late 1990s in Vancouver BC and coined the term Upcycled Commodity Designer to describe their approach to material reuse. Moving to NYC in 1999. They started a Gaelyn & Cianfarani (www.gaelyn.com, 2000–2005). This work introduce sustainable fashion to mainstream runways. In 2003 the label became the first design team to present an eco-and animal freindly fashion collection at Bryant Park during fashion week.
During this period, Cianfarani collaborated with Stella McCartney and PETA to develop a faux bear-fur alternative—the Bear Cap—for the British Ministry of Defence. It remains an ongoing project that Atom holds close to their heart. In 2005, they served as the Sustainable Designer for Habana Outpost, widely recognized as the most sustainable restaurant in North America, featuring solar panels, rainwater collection, a green roof, and the world’s first light-pipe chandelier. In 2007, Cianfarani began designing and installing green roofs in New York City and Toronto. They later co-authored a do-it-yourself guide to green roofing and continue to lecture regularly on the subject. From 2013 to 2015, Cianfarani served as Sustainable Design Director at Build It Green! NYC. They were also a board member of New York City’s oldest reuse organization, the Lower East Side Ecology Center, from 2009 to 2017. Cianfarani returned to Canada during the Covid pandemic and redirected their focus toward their art practice. They are now developing a large-scale textile installation marking the arrival of our first ecological tipping point—the collapse of warm-water coral reefs—on a 50-acre site outside Maynooth, Ontario. |
