The thin curved pieces of CNC-cut bamboo plywood create a flowing structure that also casts magical patterns. It is lit from within with a row of LED pin-point lights. There are three sizes and a choice of natural or caramel finish.
Navicula is derived from nature, in this case from one of the many microscopic diatoms that float around in the oceans.
Many people may not know that David sailed to New Zealand from England. In 1981, Trubridge and his wife Linda set off to sail around the world with their two small sons. They sold all they had and bought ‘Hornpipe’, the yacht that was their home for the next ten years as they navigated their way throughout the Caribbean and the Pacific.
The family arrived in New Zealand in 1985. Deeply inspired by his impressions of the Pacific, Trubridge began to develop furniture which held close connotations with the sea.
Fortunes changed dramatically for Trubridge with his re-launch of Body Raft which was taken to the Milan Furniture Fair in 2001 and brought into production by Cappellini. This signaled the transformation of the business from a small-scale model to one that has a considerable presence on the international lighting and furniture market.
During an interview with the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Trubridge answered the fundamental question of why he designs “To provide cultural nourishment, to tell stories, to reach people emotionally and spiritually; the objects are a vehicle for the nourishment we so badly lack in all the pragmatic and consumer stuff we are surrounded with. And the other reason I design is to recreate that vital connection to nature that we have lost so much, living in insulated cities.”
