2005
KINA WINS
'Kina' wins a large prize in a Japanese design competition. Two judges' comments:
"It has image as if a craftwork deceptively, however it is carefully build by using computer technology. Marriage between high-tech and traditional technology is fascinating factor, and it is considered about the productivity, too. The nice shape is useful to provide users a dream-inspiring space more than anything else." (Kita)
"It has a lot of possibility. . . . ." (Yoon)
DESIGN WORKSHOP
David Trubridge will be running a design workshop at the Vitra Design Museum summer school in France in August: www.boisbuchet.com There are still places left in the class.
After France he has been invited to go to Iceland for some lecturing, and an opportunity to explore another of the planet's wild places.
NEWS
David's designs can now be seen in a number of top design stores around Europe thanks to the representation of Whiteflax and MOA. Whiteflax manufactures a number of his designs in Italy and first launched them at the Cologne Furniture Fair in January 2005. MOA (Meubles et Objets de Aotearoa) is based in Paris. As a result of their promotion there has been extensive coverage of David in many European design magazines.
Other designs manufactured in Europe include the Body Raft by Cappellini, the Sling by Boffi.
In May David exhibited in New York alongside ICFF in the New Zealand Design Space show (with Purple South and Simon James Design) at Ray20 Gallery in Tribeca.
David was also part of the award winning designboom mart in ICFF itself. www.designboom.com
ANTARTICA
Last December David went to Antarctica as one of the Antarctica New Zealand Arts Fellows. (www.antarcticanz.govt.nz) The trip is part of his project that looks at the environmental responsibility designers should have for the the products they create. He spent 12 days in and around Scott Base on Ross Island. During that time he visited the historic huts of Scott and Shackleton, climbed into a 15m deep crevasse, and flew in a helicopter over to the Dry Valleys for two days. The wild beauty of the continent had a deep effect on him: its remarkably clear light imparts a clarity of focus for the smallest detail. It gave him a strengthened commitment to trying to reduce the effect of global warming and its devastation to the planet and life on it. Since returning he has given a number of public lectures on this issue around New Zealand and Australia, including seminars at Designex in Melbourne and Auckland.
