Between Two Worlds

BLUE FLUO ISSUE • n°38 • 2024

Between Two Worlds

by Désirée Sormani

Face to face with Luisa Bocchietto, ambassador for the nautical industry in the world of design furnishings, to discuss the affinities between the two sectors and how they are becoming increasingly close

Luisa Bocchietto can’t be introduced in just a few words. An architect and designer, she has also held many important posts in the organisational world, promoting Italian design throughout the world as, for example, President of the Order of Architects of Biella, National President of the ADI (Association of Industrial Design), Vice-President of PoliDesign, part of the Italian government’s Design Council and President of the WDO World Design Organisation (2017-2019) in Montreal, Canada. Often serving on international juries at design events around the world, for some time she has also been involved in yacht design. As well as being the driving force behind the Design Innovation Award, a prize set up by Confindustria Nautica and I Saloni Nautici, she has forged close links with the Salone del Mobile. Milano (Milan Furniture Fair). A new, productive collaboration between the two organisations has been announced for the 2024 event.

Ms Bocchietto, how did this collaboration come about?

It’s the result of ideas shared with organisers of the Genoa International Boat Show. I’ve always been passionate about yachts and the sea. I’ve

taken part in yacht racing events and I often go sailing with friends, family, on sail and motor yachts. Yachts are part of my world, together with architecture and design. Since my university days I’ve always tried to visit both shows, and I’ve seen them evolve like two parallel worlds. When I became president of the ADI (from 2008 to 2014) I thought it would be interesting to involve the yacht sector and also include yachts in the ADI Index so they could also take part in the ADI Compasso d’Oro prize, (Italian design award founded in 1954 – ed). So along with a trade magazine that no longer exists ADI organised a prize that went on for a number of years. We then promoted, together with the Genoa Boat Show, a prize for the accessories sector, which involved great innovation, Italian flair and expertise and lots of research.

You even managed to introduce the yacht industry into the prestigious President of the Republic Prizes…

Yes. Still in the guise of ADI, I got together with designer Giovanna Talocci, who was with me on the executive council, and based in Rome, with the aim of being able to propose candidates from the design world.

Architect and designer Luisa Bocchietto graduated from the University of Milan and also qualified at the IED, the European Institute of Design in Milan has a studio in Biella. This photo shows the prize-giving at the 4th Design Innovation Award - Palazzo della Borsa Genoa 2023 and left, Marco Valle and Laura Sandrone of Azimut | Benetti collecting the DIA (design by Luisa Bocchietto) for the Magellano 60

We were given the opportunity to present three nominations and we included the yacht industry in the first edition. In 2011 the Sanlorenzo SL 106 won the National President Napolitano Prize for Innovation for the interiors by Dordoni Architetti. And then, how did your collaboration with the Genoa International Boat Show come about?

Following years of collaboration for the accessories prize, in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, the Genoa Boat Show celebrated its 60th anniversary. And as a result of my experience in design, prizes and juries they asked me to provide some ideas to highlight this landmark and give a boost to the only fair remaining open to visitors. I suggested creating an international, independent prize with a jury made up of various experts: the Design Innovation Award was to recognise the beautiful and wellmade on show at the event, not only for yachts but also for accessories and innovation with an emphasis on sustainability. Confindustria Nautica placed a lot of trust in me – for which I’ll always be grateful – asking me to create a project I had a lot of belief in from the very beginning, and that I think also helped bring together the yacht and design industries.

Luisa Bocchietto has been involved with urban renewal, building redevelopment and urban planning initiatives. In the design field she has worked as art director for furniture producers and as visiting professor at universities and design schools. She has written on the subject of architecture and design and organised conferences in Italy and elsewhere. Her designs and products have featured in many magazines in the sector. Top, left, “Ilumina - Arnioni in piazza” - Comune di Volterra (2020), prize winner at the ADI Design Index 2021

Do you think that the world of designer furnishing, whose products now appear on yachts of various sizes, has helped change the nautical industry?

Yacht interiors have experienced nothing less than a revolution. This is also down to collaborations with many designers from the world of architecture, who have exerted an influence that I think has been beneficial to both sectors. The Italian yards have orders to meet and this means that success also involves exporting the idea of Made in Italy in a field – design – where Italy plays a significant role, so I think that a relationship with the yacht-building industry also benefits furniture, lighting, finishings and materials companies.

Going back to the Salone del Mobile.Milano. What will highlight this relationship?

Last year we invited Maria Porro, president of Salone del Mobile.Milano, to take the helm of the DIA in Genoa to begin the process of forging close links. This year on the first day of the Salone, during a conference involving the yards and designers, we made an effort to introduce more information about the yacht-building world. Everyone seemed to know

Photo credit: Guido Mencari

about it, but it’s worth providing a more in-depth view of what’s on board. We realised that the Salone and the Boat Show have a similar history - they both began in the 1960s and have followed similar paths. My satisfaction lies in helping them establish these closer connections.

Has Italian design also had a strong influence on owners’ tastes?

The fact that Italian design now features on board promotes Italian quality and style. It means promoting a way of life, one shaped by Italian Design, by our ability to create a high-quality interpretation of the contemporary lifestyle. However, there’s a lot of talk nowadays about artificial intelligence…

Do you think AI can help natural intelligence do better?

Artificial intelligence can fish out everything swimming around in the vast pool of human intelligence that is the Internet, where every one of us downloads thoughts, words and opinions. I think that in all sectors, not just this one, AI can be a useful pre-analysis, because what you normally do in a project is examine everything that’s been done so far, in a specific context, and then identify that extra element that will enable you to take a step forward. Interrogating this artificial world could help you gain

useful information. The risk, though, is finding inaccurate information. I hope that human intelligence will provide the element of coordination, of adhesion – creativity, in fact.

What must design possess in order to be creative?

Until very recently quality design was based on the idea that “form follows function” and the harmonious relationship between the two concepts, even more important on yachts because the sea forms part of the picture. Now, though, sustainability also plays a crucial role in the challenges we are faced with. I’m thinking about environmental challenges, cities, the many sectors where design doesn’t yet play a role, sectors that are crucial for our future, our survival on this planet. Design is starting to involve more intangible sectors that are also linked to managing services, the process underpinning the life of a city, reducing waste. The world of design is huge, offering almost endless professional opportunities for those who work in our field. It takes a wide-ranging approach that ensures we don’t become bogged down in a vision that’s too specific. These are extremely useful connections that also involve yachts and furniture, creating very interesting intellectual challenges.

Top, left, the “Design Alabastro 22” project for which Bocchietto won the Gold Award at the GDA Australia (2023). left, restoration and conservation at Porta di Carisio (Vercelli). Above, restoration and conservation of S. Lorenzo di Ponderano Church (in progress), province of Biella, Italy

Photo credit: Damiano Andreotti