David Geoffrey Trubridge (born 14 January 1951) is a furniture designer based in Whakatu,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He designs lighting and furniture, with a focus on sustainable materials.

Early life and education

Trubridge graduated from

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...

in 1972 with a degree in

Naval Architecture Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and op ...

. He then worked as a forester in rural

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

for ten years, where he learned how to make furniture. His designs were shown in the UK, including at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

and St. Mary's Cathedral in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Career

Trubridge's works have been featured in exhibitions at Dwell on Design in Los Angeles as well as Wanted Design in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Since 2006, he has participated in the

Milan Furniture Fair Salone del Mobile or Milan Design Week (, but more commonly ''Salone del Mobile'') is a furniture fair held annually in Milan. It is the largest trade fair of its kind in the world. The exhibition showcases the latest in furniture and design from ...

. In 2007, in conjunction with the Natural Art Museum and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, Trubridge exhibited "On Thin Ice" at the Nobel Peace Centre. Shown in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

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and

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, this sculptural investigation into climate change won a Green Leaf Award. In 2008, Trubridge was listed by French magazine ''

L'Express (, stylized in all caps) is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre-right in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''R� ...

'' as one of the "Top 15 Designers in the World". In the

2019 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

, Trubridge was appointed an New Zealand Order of Merit, Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to design. He was also a part of the 2010 Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt Design National Design Triennial.

Notable works

Martin Sidoruk, speaking for the DINZ Council, said, "David is a true advocate of New Zealand's design industry, speaking regularly overseas and mentoring young designers while at the same time achieving international success and recognition for his incredible designs." Flora, fauna, and natural formations are frequent inspirations for Trubridge's work, which includes lighting, furniture, large-scale commissions, and sculptural pieces. One of Trubridge's well-known designs is the ''Coral Light''. Inspired by the designer's underwater experiences, the piece is based on the structure of a geometric polyhedron and resembles coral patterns. His collections incorporate a range of ''Grow'' lights known as the ''Seed System''. In 2008, Trubridge designed ''Body Raft'' for the New Zealand exhibition "Furniture in Context," a Hawke's Bay Cultural Trust initiative. It was later shown at the Dowse Art Museum. A further developed version of ''Body Raft'' was shown at the 2001 Milan Furniture Fair, and its design was purchased by the Italian company Giulio Cappellini, Cappellini. Trubridge has also developed large-scale commissions for corporate clients. These include lighting for Topshop's flagship store on Oxford Street, lighting for Stella McCartney in Printemps (Paris), benches for Suncorp HQ (Brisbane) and the AMP foyer (Auckland), customized lights for Oroton (in all Australian stores), and sculptural light installations for Bombay Sapphire's pop-up shop in Auckland. A collaborative project with Urban Arts Projects resulted in a lighting installation for the Westfield Fox Hills Shopping Centre in California. Trubridge also has work in the Minneapolis Museum (''Glide''), Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland Museum (''Pacific Chair'') and the Powerhouse, Sydney (''Sling''). In 2010, the Centre Pompidou, Pompidou Centre in Paris acquired Trubridge's ''Icarus'' installation (two ''Wing'' and one ''Sola'' light) for its permanent collection.

Awards

In the

, Trubridge was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to design.

References

External links

*
Works in the collection of the Pompidou Centre

Entries on website for Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Episode of 95bFM documentary series, ''Seeded''

Entry on Design Within Reach website

Publication mentions

* ''Helen Schamroth, Schamroth, Helen. 100 New Zealand Craft Artists.'' Auckland: Godwit Press, 1998. . * Fuad-Luke, Alastair. eco-Design:''The Sourcebook.'' Chronicle Books, 2006. (Trubridge is on cover) {{DEFAULTSORT:Trubridge, David Living people New Zealand furniture designers English emigrants to New Zealand Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit Alumni of Newcastle University 1951 births