Out to Sea

One to Note Home is where the anchor drops—embark on that yachting journey at the Sanlorenzo Asia Flagship in Singapore, designed by Italian architect Piero Lissoni

With freedom of movement severly limited in many parts of the world, many travellers are turning to sailing as a way to get a holiday without the complexities of border crossings. Chartering a yacht or acquiring a custom-made vessel of your own has become all the more attractive in this era of social distancing.

The arrival of luxury yacht brand Sanlorenzo to Singapore’s shores thus comes at an opportune time. A beacon of Italian shipbuilding creativity, Sanlorenzo chose to locate its Asia f lagship at Sentosa Cove, launched in partnership with Simpson Marine. The brand’s first physical office in Asia is designed by esteemed architect Piero Lissoni, who also serves as the art director of Sanlorenzo. Here, he tells us more about his work for the brand and the synergies between yachting design and architecture.

In this new project, how did you combine your style as an architect with your role as the art director of Sanlorenzo?

The project for this new f lagship office in Singapore was born in continuity with the language and image developed for the Sanlorenzo stands in boat shows all over the world. The design of the office takes up its stylistic features by presenting a space characterised by minimalism, which distinguishes my design philosophy, furnished with contemporary and modern design pieces.

In your opinion, what are the elements common to yachting and contemporary architecture?

In the past, yacht design was more self-referential, while today, we see a bigger interrelation between contemporary architecture and the yachting lifestyle. Take, for example, the choice of designing large windows for yachts, which is typical in civil architecture. In creating large transparent surfaces, these contribute to wider and more versatile spaces. In the yachts that I furnish, I prefer to choose furniture designs already produced by various companies and mix them with vintage pieces in order to create hybrid spaces.

How do you think the design of our homes, f loating or not, will change in the near future?

After this lockdown experience caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, we will think about our homes with more care and attention. People have become aware of how important it is to live in more functional and more comfortable homes.

The house has become the primary centre of our lives; for this reason, it must be carefully designed. We will have to work more on the concept of a hybrid home, with dining tables that become worktops if necessary, all in the name of greater versatility without sacrificing the sense of beauty.