Trans RINA, Vol 156, Part C1, Intl J Marine Design, Jan - Dec 2014
A façade of 6000 pure-glass blocks form the walls of the Optical Glass House in Hiroshima, Japan (Figure 22). Possibly one of the most beautiful contemporary houses of
recent years, it uses light in numerous ways
throughout the day/year. This is how the architects describe it: ‘The garden is visible from all rooms, and the serene soundless scenery of the passing cars and trams imparts richness to life in the house. Sunlight from the east, refracting through the glass, creates beautiful light patterns. Rain striking the water-basin skylight manifests water patterns on the entrance
floor. Filtered light
through the garden trees flickers on the living room floor… the house enables residents to enjoy the changing light and city moods, as the day passes, and live in awareness of the changing seasons.’ [35]
4.
WHEN ARCHITECTS DESIGN SUPERYACHTS
The previous section has provided a summary contemporary design techniques in architecture. It
of is
argued that superyacht design has traditionally relied on rescaling archetypes, that and the industry could benefit from reflecting on the value of transferring some of the techniques summarised.
This paper is not the first call for cross-disciplinary superyacht design. There are a number of high profile case studies of Architects designing superyachts, with varying critical success. A desire for crossover clearly exists already: ‘Perhaps this maritime yearning comes from the fact that the boat represents everything the building is not. It is lithe and lightweight, free from the clumsy constraints of bricks and mortar. Their wires and rigs, bulwarks and pinrails, embody an escapist fantasy, removed from the slow and heavy things that weigh down the architect's life of earthbound drudgery.’ Oliver Wainwright [36]
4.1 OCEAN EMERALD SUPERYACHT BY FOSTER ASSOCIATES
Figure 24: Unique Circle Yachts: ‘Jazz’ and ‘Master Prototype’ (2013) by Zaha Hadid [38]
The Unique Circle Yachts (90m + 128m respectively) are without doubt the most radical visions of superyacht design to date (Figure 24). According to Hadid’s press information, the flowing forms evoke ‘the organic structural systems of natural marine formations’ [38]. The design of the hull has apparently been informed by hydrodynamic research [38]. However, early reviews have been less than complimentary. The Guardian’s Oliver Wainwright suggests that the Master Prototype is: ‘Like a captured creature writhing in a tangle of ectoplasm.’ [36]
Hadid has transferred a cellular aesthetic that she has used in concepts before. The Circle Yachts draw most direct comparison with her plans for
the Abu Dhabi
Performing Arts Centre – biomimicry at a vast scale. Though the Master Prototype is
indeed radical, the
family of yachts is less so, the sinuous structure failing to significantly disrupt the traditional white façades.
4.3 ‘A’ BY PHILLIPE STARCK
(Figure 23) clearly demonstrates a transfer of aesthetic cues from his architectural practice. Firstly, it is not white. Instead it opts for a palette of sophisticated greys which is far less jarring than white. Some visual lightness is
created by the incorporation of open balustrading
along the length of the vessel; its form language is not dissimilar to that of high-tech architecture – neither radical, nor archetypal.
4.2
UNIQUE CIRCLE YACHTS BY ZAHA HADID
Figure 23: Ocean Emerald Superyacht (2009) by Foster Associates [37]
Though small in comparison to some of the yachts discussed (at 40m), Norman Foster’s Ocean Emerald
©2014: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects Figure 25: A (2008) by Phillipe Starck [39] C-49
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188