QUART ERLY - P.I. 31/10 /2019 Intern ationa l € 10, Chf 10,50 , UK £ 7,50 Poste Italian e S.p.a. Spedizione in Abbon amento Postale - 70% - LO/MI
N A C R E I S S U E
The Art of Sailing
80m Dragon Col umbus Yachts brand of Palum bo Superyachts
• n° 2 0 • 2 0 1 9
NACRE ISSUE - n° 20 - 201 9 - € 10
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Parisotto + Formenton Architetti
DESIGNING BOATS DEMANDS SEAFARING EXPERIENCE by Marta Bernasconi
Yachts. And interior design, hospitality, fashion and food retail. An across-the-board approach that has earned the studio a fine reputation across the globe
This page, he installation created by the studio for the Interni Human Spaces event that took place during the last Milan Salone del Mobile: a reflection on environmental themes and sustainable development. Right, Aldo Parisotto (right) and Massimo Formenton
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Ph Giulio Ghirardi
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did the interior décor, a contemporary take on classic maritime styling and the look and feel of the boats of the 1950s and 60s.
Ph. Leo Torri
The cockpit aboard the 2016 Sanlorenzo SL96 for which the studio
T
he home page of their website is something of a manifesto for these two architects’ personal design vision. A confection of clean lines, meticulous detailing and clearly-defined spaces. Aldo Parisotto and
Massimo Formenton founded their studio in Padua (North of Italy) in 1990 but also opened an office in Milan in 2004. Their work spans museum, commercial, managerial and residential spaces but they have a particular vocation for international interior and retail design. When we met with Aldo Parisotto to discuss the broad scope of the duo’s work and their multifaceted personalities, he also revealed a surprising connection to the sea and yacht design. “I spent my summers at the sea when I was growing up and I always liked boats from when I got my first inflatable. When I was 18, I got my nautical licence – a dream come true,” begins Parisotto, who has holidayed at the sea every year since he graduated. “I bought my first sailing boat in 1999 and started competing in it. Now I’m completely addicted. I compete in a 75’ Mylius mini-maxi, an aggressive racer that has all the comfort of a superyacht when cruising… but I might not stop there…” Design-wise, Parisotto chose to retain the DNA of the Mylius boat penned by Alberto Simeone, simply making some modifications to the interiors such as the use of smoked eucalyptus, mahogany and carbon look finishes to complement the model’s sporty vocation. His great love of sailing combined with his profession as a designer marked out Parisotto’s destiny and thus that of the studio which has also ventured into yacht interior design. “We started out with Grand Soleil, with some consultancy work on personalising a 37, a 46 (which I also owned) and a Truthfully, yacht design demands a lot of specialist expertise. You have less
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Ph.Borlenghi
50. Then we moved on to various different craft, getting quite experimental.
This shot, below and bottom opposite page, Oscar 3, the Mylius 65 (launched in 2016). built for Aldo Parisotto himself (he had previously owned the Mylius 50’ Oscar2). Because of his interior design background, Parisotto brought a crossover of tastes and experience in terms of layouts,
Ph. Leo Torri
Ph.Borlenghi
details and furnishing materials to his nautical work
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[ TREND SETTERS ] ph. Giulia Costa
Above, the interiors and exterior of the Nespresso store in Milan. Below, a residential design for a villa at Conegliano in the Northern Italian Veneto region
margin of error and it is difficult to really invent anything new. But our across-the-board, multidisciplinary design approach involves the kind of mentality that is eager to experiment and innovate,” he reveals. There is one issue on which Parisotto refuses to budge, however: he is adamant that yacht designers have to have seafaring experience. Ergonomics and safety are both vital factors and anyone that doesn’t know what sailing or offshore racing involves, for example, can run the risk of making errors with potentially serious consequences. “Some people design nautical interiors with sharp angles without thinking about the fact that in upwind sailing, the boat heels sharply and safety is pivotal. From a formal point of view, I am a purist and I bring meticulous attention to detail and a very spare kind of language to my design work. Aboard, I use curved lines because I have to but I always keep things pared back. Decorative elements and the ornate are not my thing. Aspirationally, my touchstone would be the refined, unostentatious sobriety of Hermès,” Parisotto says. Parisotto and Formenton have been involved in retail fashion and design since 1995 because they have been so quick to interpret the radical changes that have swept the industry over the last 25 years. “These days, brands change their commercial format every four years. They talk out emotions, they give their customers an experience: simply showcasing a product is no longer the most important thing. You need to communicate the brand values, tell a story in an involving way and we love doing that with emotive installations”. An approach that demands rigour and purity but also experimentation and emotion. Mind and heart. The art of design and the craft of sailing are one and the same for Parisotto+Formenton in other words. 112