David Trubridge 32 Toru

Credits
  • Pou Auaha / Creative Director
    David Trubridge
  • Ringatoi Matua / Design Director
    Marion Courtillé Heays
  • Ngā Kaimahi / Team Members
    Zak Shrubsall, Megan Alexander
  • Client
    David Trubridge
Description:

Introducing Toru, a pendant light directly inspired by the shape of microscopic creatures living in the ocean called diatoms.
Through photosynthesis, diatoms produce more than 50% of the air we breathe. They are considered the largest primary producers of oxygen on our planet and are at the base of the entire oceanic food chain.
In the hope of bringing awareness to their value, Toru tells their story and with every sale a donation is made to Sustainable Coastlines to help protect our marine life and keep our beaches beautiful.
The light's unique three-sided form comes directly from the intricate shape of the Triceratium diatom.
We chose to name this design Toru meaning "three" in Te Reo Māori, to pay tribute to its triangular structure.
Toru’s intricate shape creates an intriguing twist that interplays light and shadow, while providing a warm and welcoming glow.

The light offers the option of being installed either horizontally or vertically, which is a first for our designs. Its versatility allows the light to fit in any space, from the living room to the bedroom and with its standard E27 bulb it can be easily installed.

Toru is made out of 1.6mm thin pieces of CNC-cut bamboo plywood, clipped together with simple nylon ratchet clips. The bamboo material is sourced from an FSC accredited factory and is a by-product of the bamboo food industry. The light can be transformed through a selection of painted finishes on one or sometimes both surfaces (12 colour options available).

Toru is a kitset product, entirely flat-pack and is shipped in a box similar in size to a shoebox. The light is assembled at home over approximately one hour via an instructional video and printed instruction booklet.

With this new design we were aiming to create an interesting, intricate form which provides more direct light than the two other lights of the same family (Navicula & Maru) and at an affordable price: Toru is 1100mm long and has a similar retail price to our Coral 1000mm and almost a third of the price of our small Navicula.