Zaha Hadid is best known for conjuring up countless landmark buildings, but the Pritzker Prize-winning architect’s multifaceted design portfolio also includes furniture, footwear and, now, a yacht.
To mark the launch of an exhibition of her work at London’s David Gill Gallery, Hamburg-based shipbuilders Blohm + Voss have released details of a new Hadid-designed yacht. The design of the 128m vessel has been informed by fluid dynamics and underwater ecosystems, and the structure is topped by an exoskeleton structure that is comprised of interwoven support beams. Sinuous forms are a signature style of Hadid and, according to the yacht’s developers, their deployment here “lend[s] a natural aesthetic to the yacht’s external appearance; evoking the organic structural systems found in natural marine formations.”
The master prototype conceived for the 128m yacht will, in turn, be used to inspire the design of The Unique Circle Yachts. That collection of five separate 90m yachts will incorporate design philosophies of the master prototype but will include modifications to ensure they meet the technical specifications required to approve vessels for ocean crossings. Blohm + Voss clients are currently able to view the designs but construction of one of the yachts could take up to four years depending on which bespoke elements are incorporated into the final design. Estimated prices for the yachts have not been released.
Explaining her approach to the design of a yacht, Zaha Hadid said: “As a dynamic object that moves in dynamic environments, the design of a yacht must incorporate additional parameters beyond those for architecture – which all become much more extreme on water. Each yacht is an engineered platform that integrates specific hydrodynamic and structural demands together with the highest levels of comfort, spatial quality and safety.”
In addition to developing Hadid’s design, Blohm + Voss has created a number of the most prestigious yachts to take to the water in recent years. Among those are the succinctly named, Philippe Starck-designed A (which measures 120m) and the Terence Disdale-designed, 162.5m Eclipse which, until recently, was the longest private superyacht in the world.
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