Sanlorenzo and Piero Lissoni set a new course for the future of yachting industry

After the luxurious maritime experience of a Sanlorenzo yacht at Milan Design Week 2022, the Italian shipbuilding company returned to the Fuorisalone this year, with another installation marking the future of the yachting industry in the 18^th century courtyard of Università degli Studi di Milano (University of Milan). The installation titled La Macchina Impossibile by Piero Lissoni interprets the shipyard's relentless pursuit of technologically innovative solutions to reduce the environmental impact of yachting. In the context of the ensemble exhibition, Interni Design Re-Evolution, Sanlorenzo inserts itself with La Macchina Impossibile looking to the future and expressing a new, positive interaction between human beings and the environment.

The imposing metal sculpture, with propellers, serrated wheels and a huge mechanical structure, rests on a platform positioned in the centre of the 18^th century courtyard. The monumental sculpture not only adorns the central area of the university with its huge scale but also brings drama to the space with wheels and propellers that move amid light steam. This dynamic mechanism is made possible with the new hydrogen created from the green methanol system that Sanlorenzo is developing for the propulsion of its boats, in collaboration with Siemens Energy, based on the use of combined reformer/fuel cell modules. “This technology will power the on-board services on yachts between 24 and 73 metres in length, from 2024 on the new 50Steel. This cutting-edge project will represent the first concrete step towards the generation of carbon-neutral power from new-generation fuels for the entire sector, making Sanlorenzo an absolute forerunner on the road to sustainable yachting,” shares the company.

Talking to STIR during Milan Design Week 2023, Massimo Perotti, president and chief executive officer of Sanlorenzo said, “From 2021 to today, the world (has) changed. So the idea to build a yacht which is respectful and cares about pollution was the right idea and goal. We anticipated the idea to catch the jump up of technology, which is now existing in the world. Everybody is investing money, time, and mind to build something that is not poisoning the air and the water.” Soleranzo, in an exclusive partnership with Siemens Energy, aims to produce the first 50m yacht with onboard hotellerie, powered by Methanol Fuel Cells and the first Sanlorenzo superyacht with diesel-electric propulsion by 2024.

Perotti then adds, “I met Piero Lissoni a few years ago and he told me that ‘you did a fantastic job by innovating your product. Your yachts are the best in design but now you have to communicate (that). You went from a zero to a 10 with the product, which was the most important thing. Now from a 10 to a 100, you are doing it by telling people.’ We are now trying to inform the community. People (are) coming here from all over the world, (and) will see that Sanlorenzo is producing the first yacht, that in 2024, will be in the water producing 100 kilowatts of energy, to work all the artillery of the yacht with hydrogen and oxygen.”

La Macchina Impossibile, therefore, stands as a physical manifestation of these philosophies and initiatives that Sanlorenzo believes in. In Lissoni's interpretation, this complex machine sculpture, highly technological but defined in detail by skilled manual work just like a yacht, represents avant-garde research conducted by the shipyard to reduce the environmental impact of yachting.

In life, you have to catch the moment. At the beginning of 2010, our goal was design, art, and innovation in the design of the boat and we played hard for 10 years from 2010 to 2020, around this concept. – Massimo Perotti

Sanlorenzo introduced the world of design and architecture, to the yachting industry, entrusting the interior design of its yachts to authoritative names such as Dordoni Architetti, Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, Piero Lissoni, Patricia Urquiola and Studio Christian Liaigre. This intuition has brought new languages and styles on board, profoundly changing the interpretation of the space.

From 2020 to 2022, Sanlorenzo was the Institutional Patron of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the most important museum in Italy for 20^thcentury European and American art. In 2022, motivated by the desire to support, promote, and spread the Italian art system, Sanlorenzo became the main sponsor of the Italian Pavilion at the 59^th International Art Exhibition—La Biennale di Venezia. It was in 2021, at the request of the Perotti family, that the Sanlorenzo Foundation was established, with the purpose of supporting the minor Italian islands and the communities living there by financing projects and initiatives that contribute to their socio-cultural and economic development and environmental protection.

Sharing the future initiatives of the company, Perotti says, “We bought a nice villa in front of the Church of The Salute, often called the Health Church, and is under refurbishing. Designed by Pierro, by April 2024, we will do the christening of this 'House of Health,' which we will call Casa della Salute. In this villa with a garden, we will expand the Sanlorenzo Foundation, in order to be present with charity and to help the people who need (it), because I think when a company is successful and you make lots of money, you have to return a part of it to the society.”