EXHIBITIONS | Furniture and yachting in synergy

Text by C. S. Bontempi Sciama

The Design Innovation Award established by Confindustria Nautica and I Saloni Nautici rewards commitment to innovation, research, formal technical quality and sustainability.  These are the values of companies operating in the yachting and furniture sectors.

Minotti, Florida, Rodolfo Dordoni design, ph Courtesy of Minotti S.p.A

Minotti, Quadrado, design Marcio Kogan / studio mk27 design, ph Courtesy of Minotti S.p.A 

Yachting and furniture share a firmly established design language. Just think of the projects by Antonio Citterio-Patricia Viel, Dordoni Architetti, Piero Lissoni, Patricia Urquiola, Parisotto+Formenton Architetti, to name only a few, who alongside brands like Minotti, Ethimo, Talenti, Flexform, Molteni and MaxAlto, have gradually reinterpreted the interiors of yachts, fusing them with aesthetic codes from different worlds for the sake of creativity and transversal functionality. 

Marco Sabetta, 

General Manager of the Salone del

The beautiful yachts now being built are homes personalized by architects and designers. The combination of furnishings with boating is becoming ever closer.

The design of furnishings for pleasure boating - as already the whole Outdoor sector -  can hardly help using innovative materials, proof against atmospheric agents, UV rays, and corrosive marine environments. 

Virtuous examples are found in products from companies that have always been engaged in the furniture and home appliances sector, all united by the encounter between technical knowledge and aesthetic sensibility. They are transferring the atmosphere and sartorial qualities of Italian know-how to yachts, large watercraft and yacht clubs.  

Ethimo, Costiera, design Christophe Pillet, ph Courtesy Ethimo

Ethimo, Baia, design Christophe Pillet, ph Courtesy Ethimo

The definition of sartorial is apt for Ethimo: its new yacht collection combines aesthetic and functional features by presenting fabrics, generous proportions and technical materials with the modularity of lounge and sundeck furnishings. The brand “with a Mediterranean soul” has collaborated with international groups in the recreational boating sector such as Azimut|Benetti, Sanlorenzo Yacht and Ferretti Group. For these last two, the studio Antonio Citterio-Patricia Viel has created several interior projects, the most recent of which is the Navetta 30 by Custom Line - Ferretti Group with furnishings by Maxalto, among others. 

Maxalto, Caratos, design Antonio Citterio, photo courtesy Custom Line

Maxalto, Caratos, design Antonio Citterio, photo courtesy Custom Line

Flexform, Hora Sexta, design Antonio Citterio, ph Courtesy Flexform 

For the furnishings of its third DOM 133 yacht, designed by Stefano Vafiadis for Baglietto, “a veritable home on the ocean equipped with all comforts”, the choice fell on some furnishings from Flexform, like the Hora Sexta sunbed by Citterio Design, in iroko wood with reclining backrest in polypropylene fiber. 

Flexform, Milos, design Antonio Citterio, ph Courtesy Flexform

Visionnaire, Basket, design m2atelier, ph Courtesy Visionnaire 

Iroko wood is also featured in the Basket seating program by m2atelier for Visionnaire, with the back made from segments of iroko wood strung together to create an elegantly crafted necklace effect. 

Visionnaire, Vienna, design Marijana Radovic & Marco Bonelli, ph Courtesy Visionnaire

Talenti, Riviera, design Jean-Philippe Nuel, ph Courtesy Talenti

The new Salinas collection in accoya, aluminum, lava stone, cement and 100% green upholstery, designed by Ludovica + Roberto Palomba for Talenti, is an expression of the synergy between design and technology. “Each component is designed, conceived and destined to be long-lasting. This is because the brand is firmly convinced that the durability of the product and so of the materials that compose, it is already a first decisive step on the path to sustainable development and sustainability in more general terms,” they explain at Talenti. 

Talenti, Salinas, design Ludovica + Roberto Palomba, ph Courtesy Talenti 

Molteni&C, Palinfrasca, design Luca Meda, ph Courtesy Molteni

Molteni&C, Arc, design Foster + Partner, ph Courtesy Molteni

The choice of materials ranges from outdoor furniture by Molteni&C, with the solid teak of the Landmark Collection with the classic Palinfrasca sofa by Luca Meda, originally designed in 1994, to the concrete finish of the Arc table by Foster + Partners, passing through the perforated iron of the top with lava stone base of the Panna Cotta table by Ron Gilad. “In the new outdoor proposal,” notes Vincent Van Duysen, creative director of Molteni&C, “I pursued an idea of soft well-being, of organic playfulness in an architectural vision of furniture. I was inspired by modernism to recall the idea of permeability and transparency between indoor and outdoor spaces and the intimate connection with light and nature.” 

Molteni&C, Panna Cotta, design Ron Gilad, ph Courtesy Molteni 

With its 1,043 brands on display, over 1,000 watercraft from 2 to 40 meters long, 143 more berths in the water thanks to the opening of new canals and 184 innovations on display and making their premiere, the 63rd International Boat Show, which will open its doors on 21 September, brings opportunities for new synergies. The task  of the Design Innovation Award - established by Confindustria Nautica and I Saloni Nautici in 2020 at the 60th edition of the Genoa International Boat Show - is to highlight designers and manufacturers’ ability to conceive and produce in terms of design, research, innovation and sustainability. 

Maria Porro, 

president of the Salone del , leads the jury of the Design Innovation Award

I feel positive, that innovation in languages, materials, forms and finishes is the hallmark of the nautical products nominated for the next Design Innovation Award. When I think of the spaces aboard a yacht, it is immediately clear that flexible solutions, customized designs, state-of-the-art production, safety and respect for the environment have to be the essential features in a design capacity that is the same that I see in the Milan Trade Fair’s pavilions during the week of the Salone del Mobile. A yacht today is not just some sports equipment or a craft for voyaging and exploring. It is increasingly domestic, welcoming and, like a new home, sustainable and resilient. I expect that the great push towards the use of materials and technologies that are increasingly respectful of the ecosystem will suggest new approaches.”

Stay tuned！