On board the second Sanlorenzo 57Steel, Virtuosity

So what does he think a yacht should be? A land-based architect by training, Lissoni feels strongly that a yacht should aspire to be a villa.

“I’m not a nautical designer and I don’t want to become one. I’m an architect and as such I feel like an outsider when I work in the nautical world,” he says.

Lissoni’s first two incursions into yachting territory were the 37-metre Vitters sailing yacht Ghost, launched in 2005, and the 51-metre Mondomarine explorer yacht Tribu, launched in 2007.

His subsequent work with Sanlorenzo includes the new 44X-Space La La Land and models such as the SP110, SX76, SX88, SX100 and SX112, with Virtuosity being the biggest yet.

Sanlorenzo is enthusiastic about working with designers and architects from outside the nautical sphere, with Dordoni Architetti, Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, Patricia Urquiola, Michele Bönan and Studio Liaigre among past collaborators.

Ferruccio Rossi, at the time Sanlorenzo’s general manager and president of superyachts, says the cross-pollination brings “new languages and stylistic elements on board, profoundly transforming the classical interpretation of the interior space.”

Initially, the challenge was, he says, “to tune into a common register and fully involve the designers in the space of a yacht in all its articulations and complexities, in its relationship with the exterior dominated by the sea, an element in constant motion and change. [But] as we have been working to achieve a common goal, it has been easy to find a shared vision, unleashing the full innovation and creativity of those who are free from conditioning and prejudices and can find surprising solutions.”

He is convinced that these collaborations have contributed to the growth and success of Sanlorenzo.

Or, as Lissoni puts it: “Outsiders like me have changed the rules. Lord Nelson is dead, it’s time for some fresh air.”

An ethic as singular as this requires owners who share the vision. “The shipyard told me that I had the opportunity to do a 57-metre yacht, and I said, ‘OK, interesting, but first I want to get to know the owners,’ because if I don’t like the owners I won’t accept the project.”

As luck would have it, they were on the same page.

It is a design approach that works in sympathy with Lissoni’s. For example, just as in a villa, “the connection between the interior and the exterior is absolutely important. We have to change the attitude: don’t think that you’re aboard, think that you’re inside a villa where the panorama changes every day,” says Lissoni.

“Outsiders like me have changed the rules.
Lord Nelson is dead -
it's time for some fresh air”

Villa, palazzo, perhaps even spacious garden is what you think when you board Virtuosity from the aft deck. A three- by two-metre heated glass-bottomed pool equipped with massage jets lies shimmering between large sunpads, and there is even more seating in the shade under the overhang.

It’s impossible to resist the temptation to descend the symmetrical staircases and check out the beach club, especially when the transom and two side platforms have been folded down to create 110 square metres of open air space.

“It is enhanced by the interplay of shade and shadows cast by the transparent-bottomed swimming pool on the main deck,” says Rossi, helping create an atmosphere of Zen-like calm.

There’s a beach club bar, water toys and furniture that includes a Bubble Rock sofa that Lissoni designed for Living Divani, as well as a gigantic Samsung flat-screen TV concealed behind a magic mirror wall made out of grey Stopsol glass.

A fabulous steam room with curved glass sides is entirely enveloped in Carrara marble, and state-of-the–art Technogym equipment complements the good, old-fashioned workout classics like a punch bag.

Up a deck, the main saloon sets the tone for the rest of the yacht with walls and ceilings entirely lined in bleached wood and floors in Kerakoll’s self-levelling cement resin.

This floor finish is eye-catching and may well be a clever choice for yachts: while pouring is a long, slow process and each layer requires days to dry, it is lighter weight than some stone finishes, durable and has a degree of elasticity.

Main saloon furniture reads like an Italian design greatest hits list. There are four Utrecht armchairs by Cassina in blue wool with contrasting white stitching, a Minotti sofa with seating both at the front and at the back, a Cassina coffee table, an Atollo lamp by Oluce, a series of B&B Italia director’s chairs around a carbon fibre-topped dining table and the list goes on.

“I stay true to my own approach and to my belief that it’s better to use commercially available products aboard yachts: they are better designed and made from tried and true materials that will last longer than anything a yacht designer can draw and a craftsman can build.

Lissoni continues: “Industrial processes have been perfected over the years, industries have access to certified materials and fabrics. I would turn to an artisan if I wanted a custom couch in crocodile, for example. But I don’t want one!”

The owners intend to use Virtuosity both privately and for charters, so Lissoni thought about how best to use the versatile layout that Zuccon provided, to keep some areas public for parties, and some private and easy to close off.

One private area is the owner’s cabin forward on the main deck. An enormous California king-sized bed dressed in Dedar upholstery sits regally in the middle of a suite that has an en suite bagno a vista, which is part of the cabin but can be closed off by sliding doors of polarised glass.

Furnishings are by Cassina and Vitra, plus there is an intriguing custom piece that can open to become a massage bed. Four more cabins on the lower deck, two VIPs and two convertible twins, are furnished with the same design pieces and fittings as the owner’s cabin.

Ascending the sculptural staircase and walking forward on the upper deck you will find – instead of the bridge – a second owner’s cabin.

This is a major alteration between Virtuosity and the first 57Steel, Alma, which paired Zuccon’s exterior with a Vickers Studio interior. This degree of difference, Rossi says, illustrates the level of customisation Sanlorenzo can achieve within this design.

“When I design a yacht I approach it just as I would any other project, aiming to create something functional, comfortable and beautiful,” says Lissoni

The second suite is 54 square metres and also has a California king bed, an en suite with a large Boffi bathtub, a walk-in wardrobe and a dressing room and a seating area with an Arne Jacobsen for Fritz Hansen Egg chair.

With wraparound windows, the suite also has a private deck where guests can enjoy the views from their own spa pool undisturbed by anything less than the occasional helicopter touching down on the foredeck. The suite’s office has a green screen to allow the owners to make video calls without tipping anyone off as to just how sweet their suite is.

The upper saloon has a Francesco Binfaré for Edra On the Rocks sofa that can be arranged in a variety of configurations, none of which involve sitting up straight. Aft, a circular marble dining table with a lazy Susan can sit 14 on stackable chairs. The adjacent bar in lacquered black steel and sunlounger seating fully aft get the most of the views beyond the glass and teak railings.

“The 57Steel is a creature of a new generation, a boat that enjoys a very intricate mixture of spaces. At the design level, this yacht is thought of in architectural terms: spaces that open up, vertical elements, spaces that can be closed for privacy,” says Lissoni.

The flybridge is both fly in the sense that it has a full DJ console and excellent party spaces illuminated by Monsieur Tricot lamps by Tribù, and in that it houses the bridge, forward in the boat’s uppermost reaches.

It’s a classic Lissoni set-up that privileges the “villa” over the “yacht”. Virtuosity certainly shows what can be achieved when you cross-pollinate, and the value of Lissoni’s outsider vision.

First published in the July 2024 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.