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[ CREATIVE MINDS: CANTIERI DI PISA ]
The Cantieri di Pisa travel lift. The brand was founded in 1945 in Limite sull’Arno, 30 kilometres from Florence, and in 1956 moved to its current location at Darsena Pisana, on the Canale dei Navicelli. It was acquired in 2021 by Enrico Gennasio, who initiated a new expansion project
A FUTURE OF TRADITION AND INNOVATION
by Samuela Urbini
ph. courtesy by Cantieri di Pisa
After a change of ownership the Cantieri di Pisa marks a triumphant return with three new lines based on materials research and contemporary design, reinterpreting and updating iconic craft like the Akhir, assisted by chief designer Antonio Luxardo
After a fifteen-year production hiatus the Cantieri di Pisa brand returned to the Cannes Yachting Festival 2024, marking a new stage in the yard’s story. Founded in 1945, at first it specialised in the construction and refit of civil and military craft and then built majestic sail yachts, but the brand achieved distinction during the halcyon days of the 1960s when motor yachts reached a peak of style and desirability, especially with the arrival of the Akhir series, launched in 1970. Pierluigi Spadolini contributed to the yacht’s creation, designing a craft with innovative yet timeless lines that made Cantieri di Pisa famous throughout the world.
In more recent years the yard remained inactive, until in 2021 the entrepreneur Enrico Gennasio, president of Alfagomma, acquired the brand with the intention of relaunching it. “We decided to concentrate on the refit business first for the yard’s reboot, which enabled us to re-establish contacts with suppliers”, says Marco Massabò, the company’s CEO, who boasts extensive experience in the sector, “But we had one great strength – a solid financial base on which to build our future”. Since 2021, six million euro have been invested in expanding the production facilities and kickstarting the renewal process that also involved the participation of Antonio Luxardo as creative director, taking charge of all the projects, along with supervision of the Custom division. This led to the presentation of the first models in the three new lines from Cantieri di Pisa - Polaris 48, the explorer of the future, Saturno 56 and the eagerly-awaited Akhir 44, the return of an icon whose development inevitably involved a careful balance of innovation and
From left, Antonio Luxardo, chief designer for Cantieri di Pisa, and CEO Marco Massabò. Bottom, this page and opposite page, the basic lines of the new Akhir 44 in some hand-drawn sketches from the studio. The yard’s iconic yacht is given new life under the watchful eye of creative director Antonio Luxardo, who has retained the basic lines like the air intake with horizontal grille. Opposite page, top, renderings of the first models in the three new lines from Cantieri di Pisa: Saturno 56, Polaris 48 and Akhir 44
respect for the past. “It took eight months to redesign it, even though I’d been thinking about it since the age of 14”, says Luxardo. The style of Luigi Spadolini, an architect influenced by Le Corbusier’s rationalism, featured, among other elements, smoked glass ribbon windows. “He is the person who transformed what were originally small ships into yachts, especially when they were over 30 metres”, Luxardo adds. “Extremnely elegant lines with a certain athleticism. The main points we worked on involved innovation and, in part, the style, remaining solidly rooted in the yard’s history. The rules have changed, there’s whole a whole series of areas where the market has evolved since the crisis of 2008, and transferring all this onto the Akhir was no easy task. We had to expand the spaces, because these days all yachts over 30 metres feature a full-beam forward section, unlike the Akhir models of the past. We have, though, retained the stylistic codes of the Akhir concept, with the characteristic flow of the surfaces between the upper and
[ CREATIVE MINDS ]
main decks, the air intakes and the horizontal black and white stripes displayed by all the Akhir models. And finally, the grace and elegance of the tapered bow, contrasting with the imposing stern”. Together with the yard’s style centre, Luxardo has already designed a 44S version that responds to different market requirements, with an opening stern and partially covered flybridge, unlike the 44, which, like the traditional Akhirs, has an entirely open flybridge. The three new Cantieri di Pisa lines are offered in different sizes, and the Akhir is no exception as development is under way for a 36-metre version of this fast yacht with vacuum-infusion carbon fibre composite hull and superstructure. For the interiors, Cantieri di Pisa has collaborated with some of the most famous design studios, like m2atelier, Parisotto+Formenton Architetti, Burdisso Capponi and Francesca Gianficconi, responding to the desires of demanding owners with a taste for elegance. In the meantime the yard, which has a full custom 38-metre craft under construction and maintains its interest in the refit sector, has also announced a joint venture with the Genoa-based Mariotti group, further strengthening corporate assets, a move that CEO Massabò regards as extremely important, reflecting the competence and professionalism of a company that prioritises the quality of its builds over production volume, so innovation – especially in materials – is a crucial factor.
Above, a rendering of the Akhir 44 and one of the first profile sketches made during the design stage – the yacht’s essential lines are retained, with some details developed later, retaining the historic model’s recognisability and elegance
Above, the Polaris 48, the first model in a range of steel and aluminium craft, the result of a collaboration between Antonio Luxardo and Parisotto + Formenton Architetti for the interior design (photo, right). The materials are typical of the Akhir type, like decapé teak, carbon fibre, bronze, glass and brass. Bottom, the yacht Saturno 56. Its interior design (photo on opposite page, bottom), is by m2atelier, an architectural and design studio founded by Marco Bonelli ande Marijana Radovic
