New Zealand-based designer David Trubridge has received a slew of prestigious awards and high-profile commissions in recent years as well as being exhibited in some of the world most important showrooms. Nonetheless, being selected to be part of the Centre Pompidou’s permanent collection is a rare honour for a contemporary designer.

The Pompidou has selected three large pieces from the ’Icarus’ installation, first shown at the Milan Salone del Mobile in 2010.

The pieces represent two wings suspended near a spherical sun, and allude to the ancient Greek myth cautioning against man’s hubris.

Aside from expressing Trubridge’s own views on the dangers of being seduced by technology and progress, the installation demonstrates his ethos that design can – and should – move beyond aesthetics and be used to engage with and comment on social issues.

The pieces also exemplify the constant thread of sustainability present in Trubridge’s work, with each of them being assembled on site after being transported as airline luggage.

Indeed many of the complex, three-dimensional forms Trubridge creates are shipped as flat-packs or kitsets that purchasers must then assemble for themselves.

While this has resulted in galleries and showrooms feeling tentative about ordering his works, his French representative, MOA, states that “Trubridge is viewed in France as being one of world’s leading ’eco-conscious’ designers”.

The Centre Pompidou aims to exhibit the pieces early next year in their new show.

David Trubridge
davidtrubridge.com

Centre Pompidou
centrepompidou.fr