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David Trubridge, winner of the 2007 Green Leaf Award, spoke to audiences in our SoHo and Berkeley Studios in late September. He was such an eloquent speaker that we invited him to contribute to Design Notes.
 At the start of a voyage, prudent sailors write in their log, "From A toward B," not "A to B." That's because they know all too well that conditions may change dramatically during the course of the voyage, so they have to be prepared to reconsider their goal. Survival may depend on their adaptability.
In my years of designing and making, I could not have dreamt where life would take me, but I have always been open to new directions. Looking back on my voyage thus far and meditating on each phase, I can see a distinct pattern that relates to the elements.
EARTH
 Earth structures are heavy and solid, like the giant rocks of Stonehenge.
I trained as a naval architect (boat designer), but upon graduating in the early 1970s, opted for lifestyle over career. I had a part-time job as a forester. I planted, pruned and milled local hardwoods, learning all about trees. I taught myself first how to make, and later design, furniture while living in rural Northumberland in the north of England. My furniture designs were intuitive and untrained, influenced by the organic forms of art nouveau and the sculptor Henry Moore. They were solid, woody and, while contemporary in look, still firmly rooted in the English craft tradition.
WATER
 Water structures are lighter – they break free from land, become mobile and float. They flow and flex as they ride over waves.
In 1981, my wife, Linda, and I sold everything we had (except my hand tools), bought a 45-foot steel yacht and set out with our two small children on an open-ended voyage across the Atlantic. For five years we were nomads on the oceans, sailing through the Caribbean and the Pacific until we finally ended up in New Zealand.
I gained a new visceral understanding of structures as I stood on the heaving deck in a storm, watching the mast and rigging shuddering in the gales.
My furniture became lighter and sometimes even flexible, with string-lashed joints, like the Polynesian sailing canoes I had seen. Forms became curved, like the hull or sail of a boat. The designs were, like New Zealand, a meeting point between Europe and Oceania.
AIR
 The Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, which translates as "Land of the Long White Cloud." Air structures are lighter still. They break free from the p***t's surface and fly. They use minimal materials for maximum volume, usually in a thin skin.
Combining my understanding of woodcraft with the computer design skills that I had developed from architecture and boat design, I created a series of wooden light shades, the New Zealand pendants. They are made from very thin plywood that is cut out with a CNC router. As demand for the pendants has increased, I have set up my own manufacturing plant, and so find myself a businessman as well as a designer.
Throughout all of these developments, my need to travel to the wild empty places remains, providing inspiration and motivation. Compared with Europe and America, New Zealand is empty and open. It gives me the creative space I need for ideas to fly free. But I have also been lucky enough to venture to such wild places as Antarctica, Iceland and Greenland. The energy of these wildernesses has given me a deep sense of care for the p***t and those living on it.
I cannot separate anything. All parts of my life – my humanity, my family, my designs and my travels – are my art. My life is my art.
David Trubridge,
New Zealand
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Smart Design Gifts
For every person there is a gift, and not just a gift for one season, but one for all time. Celebrate this season of giving by sharing DWR Tools for Living> |
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Saarinen at Cranbrook
The North American premiere of Eero Saarinen: Shaping the Future opens November 17 at the Cranbrook Art Museum. We are honored to participate in Cranbrook's annual Holiday Tables fundraiser, November 16, 17 and 18.
Learn more > |
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Framing Modern Architecture
The follow-up to Taschen's 2000 Modernism Rediscovered is a three-volume set chock full of 400 photographs by the master modern photographer Julius Shulman.
Learn more > |
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Contest Winners
The answer to our Spanish cuisine contest question is Galicia. We received more than 250 responses (thank you), and we have notified the eight winners that 1080 Recipes is on the way. |
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Studio Events:
Designers in the Making
11.16.07
Location: Columbus
Join DWR and the University of Cincinnati DAAP finalists for a presentation of their chair prototypes and corresponding design process.
Green Living
11.19.07
Location: Coral Gables
Celebrate Architecture Month with AlternaCorp's president, Nick Gunia and AIA Miami COTE chair, Sebastian Eilert, who will dispense information on the latest in products and materials for the green building community.
See all DWR Studio events >
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