Welcome to the special “20th Anniversary” section of Top Yacht Design. Here we present to you, day by day, the best stories, yachts, characters we have covered in these 20 years of Top Yacht Design, from 2006 to the present day.
Taken from Top Yacht Design no. 12/2017 pp. 40-47.
A home on the water
The Milanese architects’ idea of the perfect yacht.
Ludovica Serafini and Roberto Palomba are partners in both private and professional life. Since they founded Milan-based Palomba Serafini Associati in Milan in 1994, they have tackled a wealth of projects across the entire architectural and design spectrum. They even made their yachting debut in 2013 with the Jolly Roger for Benetti Design Innovation. “Even though the Jolly Roger has remained a concept for us, it has become a model for others, explains Roberto Palomba. “If I look at the yacht design world after that project, I can see that Jolly Roger did exactly what it should have done: we were called in to inspire the sector through the Benetti brand and that is what happened: many of the solutions we used back then are popping up on designs on the market right now.” And he does have a point: you only have to look at the renderings of the 85-metre megayacht to see the depth of research that went into it.
“The concept was living the sea so we expressed that by designing a boat very much as we design a home – same rules, same light,” says Ludovica Serafini. “So we created a yacht entirely surrounded by glass that would guarantee contact with the outside world and draw the horizon right into the boat.” That continuity extended into the interior design too”.
“Our goal was to bring a home on to the water, by designing a welcoming space for human beings – wooden floors to walk on barefoot, large windows to look out through and lots of warm light, for example.” The result is a floating luxury home that ticks all the boxes for quality living as Palomba is keen to emphasise: “We slightly changed the proportions of the exterior decks to create a large seafront terrace forward, a place for guests to gather and an alternative to the usual aft spaces which are often a little cramped. We also moved the master quarters onto the top deck to create an isolated haven that opens up completely so that the occupants can see the sky and stars from the bed. We wanted to re-establish direct contact with nature – visual and otherwise”.
“So aside from the large balconies opening out of the hull, the stern door was designed to open out actually into the water, creating a kind of step into the sea. To stay true to this vision we couldn’t put a tender garage aft so we created a large dining area where guests could eat right on the water – as if they were on a large raft.”
All these concepts crop up again in another big and fairly recent project Palomba Serafini Associati produced: the Boat House, a seafront home in Gallipoli. “The original design had small openings to the outside: little balconies, windows and French doors, , explains Serafini. “But it seemed such a waste to us: the views from there are unique – right across open sea. So we decided to go the other way, creating terraces, outside loggias and huge windows everywhere to bring the sea into the house. We also designed an infinity pool with a large mirror behind it so that swimmers could see the sea in both directions. We like designing like that – playful, simple but always with a ‘wow’ effect.
So what does the future hold? Will the duo ever return to yacht design? “We are moving from the concept stage to the operational one,” they answer. “We love anything that’s dynamic and moves because if there’s movement, there’s curiosity. It brings you into contact with other worlds, other smells, all the senses are on alert trying to understand and savour things that are different. ‘Inhabiting’ is something people do every day: their homes, cafe, office, car, ski piste, the sea. We see boats as an extension of a home: they have a central nucleus, i.e. a living room, and other areas where people linger, such as the dining room, terrace, etc. The result is separate atolls: functional areas like bedrooms, bathrooms, gyms, etc. But it’s by integrating all the parts that we design the whole: the yacht.”
By Gaia Grassi – Photo: Giovanni Malgarini
