At the height of the “Green Era”, some artist and designers still have a few tricks up their sleeves to make even green beautiful. This is so true with Eco-friendly designer David Trubridge, who I happen to adore. His designs bring together beauty, form and functionality, quite a triple threat.

Trubridge has an ability to make the earthy simple and elegant too. He uses only low impact natural materials in an effort to help the environment. His newest designs, which were successfully displayed at Salone this year, are the gorgeous Spiral Island Lighting and Seating Collection. They were so popular in Milan, it is rumored that one had to wait in line for quite some time just to get a peek.

Spiral Island Collection. Designed by David Trubridge.

To me, they look like something out of the mind of the great Dr. Seuss. The bold seating colors along with the unorthodox shapes are truly artistically “Seussical”. Who knew that Seussical could be stunning, I love it! The seats have the appearance of large beach pebbles wrapped in a never ending spiral, almost like an unfurling fern. His exquisite lighting, with a similar spiral as the seating, reminds me of my favorite lighting fixtures, the Japanese paper lanterns. Only Trubridge’s lights took it one step further and made paper lanterns Sophisticated and Chic. Maybe they are his futuristic take on the paper lamp? Whatever his inspiration, these lamps are gorgeous. I can see these becoming a part of many homes, I know mine.

Images courtesy of Inhabitat.

These designs show that green doesn’t have to mean mundane and boring. With more and more designers like Trubridge going green, we are sure to continue to see stunning environmentally friendly designs. Gone are the days of of the bland twig furniture of the 60’s and 70’s, welcome “Eco-friendly Elegance”.