Anniversaries: Timeless Time

A significant player in the world of Made in Italy design, luxury products and exclusive yachts, this year the Riva yard celebrated its 180th of activity. The embodiment of elegance with their clean, balanced lines, Riva boats are unfailing trendsetters

by Paola Bertelli - ph. courtesy by Riva

Alberto Galassi (centre), CEO of the Ferretti Group with left, Pierfrancesco Favino and right, David Beckham, the two stars of Riva’s short feature, “The Persuaders!”. The film was screened during the Riva celebrations in Venice last June. In the large photo, no. 1 of the Riva Anniversario: it will be built in a limited edition of 18

Left, the historic headquarters of the Riva yard, founded in 1842, in Sarnico on Lake Iseo. In 1962 Riva launched Aquarama (below), a wooden runabout that has become an icon of Italian design. Eventually, 765 of these were built. Opposite page, top, the Riva 76’ Bahamas Super. Bottom, left, the launch of the Riva 102’ Corsaro Super and right, the open air areas of the aft decks on the 50-metre Riva Race, the first of the Superyacht Division

“The Rivas of yesterday and today are the most beautiful craft in the world. Riva is 180 years old and it’s part of Italy’s nautical heritage, which existed before us and will on after us”, says Alberto Galassi, CEO of the Ferretti Group, which Riva forms part of. The legendary brand is now approaching the close of the year of its 180th anniversary. It’s been a fabulous celebration with an exclusive party in Venice accompanied by screenings in the La Fenice theatre of “Riva The Persuaders!”, a short film featuring Pierfrancesco Favino, David Beckham and Charles Leclerc, the launch of the new Riva 130’ Bellissima, the restylin of two models, Riva 102’ Corsaro Super and Riva 76’ Bahamas Super, and the presentation of El-Iseo, the group’s first full-electric model (a prototype for now, but it’s scheduled to hit the market in the second half of 2023) and the launch of the Riva Anniversario, to be offered in a limited edition of just eighteen examples. Riva Anniversario is the result of a creative process inspired by two of Riva’s most iconic designs, the Aquarama, launched sixty years ago and the model responsible for establishing the Riva legend in the Dolce Vita years, and Aquariva, its modern descendant and a player in the brand’s relaunch. “Only a yard with Riva’s wealth of history”, says Alberto Galassi, “Could conceive of an exceptional masterpiece combining legend and future, the refined detail that elegantly quotes the history together with cutting-edge technology that addresses the future”. The Riva legend was born in the years following the Second World War, when Carlo Riva took the helm of the family company founded in 1842. Another crucial date is the year 2000, when Riva joined the Ferretti Group. The brand’s collaboration with Mauro Micheli and Sergio Beretta and their Officina Italiana Design is equally important – the studio has been designing Riva craft interiors and exteriors since 1994. These boats are known for being cutting-edge and high performance, “But above all”, says Galassi, “What excites our owners is the powerful mix of innovation, refined details and timeless style, with elements recalling the heritage only Riva can boast of. Riva is the only yard in the world that’s building craft between eight and 90 metres in length, and every one of them respects these canons”. Wood, treated with almost countless coats of clear varnish to create the gloss only Riva boats can display, is often also present on today’s models, but now enhanced by solutions like metallic colours emphasising the hull contours, increasing numbers of windows and glass, steel and titanium inserts rather than carbon structures. Riva craft have a clean, rigorous style that never embraces formal virtuosity but seeks to achieve a balance of curves and lines, full and empty shapes where the choice of materials and colours gives the spaces a sophisticated perceptive quality. As always, they are trend-setting designs. Riva and Officina Italiana Design aim to create new style elements that are unique and unmistakeable, always aware that the passage of time brings with it an inevitable evolution. The latest Riva 130’ Bellissima and Riva 102’ Corsaro Super are examples of this. In

both designs the aft area in contact with the sea has been redesigned – nowadays owners are increasingly focussed on these areas, and both have glass side elements that enhance the yacht’s aerodynamic look. Or take the magnificent Riva 76’ Bahamas Super, an open coupé with an aggressive profile, carbon C-Top and Shark Grey hull livery with contrasting Bright Black details. The past remains and is respected, but Riva’s experience seems to warn us never to become imprisoned by history – Riva craft are born to be cutting-edge craft, and that is what they should remain. And, as Galassi says, “A Riva that sails will always be a dazzling flash of beauty that excites like few other things in the world”. riva-yacht.com

The Riva 130’ Bellissima that was brought to the Monaco Yacht Show. Top left, El Iseo, a full-electric prototype presented at the Monaco Yacht Club, during Ferretti Group’s Private Preview, and right, an aerial view of Aquarama (launched 60 years ago) showing the essential lines, the mahogany, the details in chrome-plated brass and the typical aquamarine colour paired with cream

THE SUBTLE EQUILIBRIUM OF ART AND DESIGN

by Paola Bertelli

Officina Italiana Design has handled interior and exterior design for Riva since 1994. Its hallmarks are what identify the Rivas of today. With intense attention to every detail it has launched the brand into the future through a combination of innovation and the contemporary, while respecting the history and emotions of the great Riva creations. The Rivas of yesterday and today are like works of art, and the link between art and design was the starting point for our chat with Mauro Micheli and Sergio Beretta, the founders of OID.

Riva craft are often regarded as works of art as well as design. What do you think is the link between art and design? Mauro Micheli: Art and design are linked by aesthetic research, but art is for the mind and design serves people. If you look, for example, at the wonderful stylistic elements of architecture from the 1940s and 50s, that’s design that can be assimilated into the field of art. In my work I draw inspiration mainly from some artists or forms of art, I follow what pleases me, I’m trained for art, it’s an attitude I’ve cultivated (he attended the Fine Arts Academy of Brera, Milan – ed). And I don’t follow products by other designers. Paradoxically I’m less interested in design that art. I do design, it’s true, but in different forms. 180 years of Riva and almost 30 years of OID with Riva. What have you absorbed from the brand and what have you brought to it? M.M.: We’ve absorbed a great deal from Riva, I’ve experienced four periods of Riva. I joined in 1984, before founding Officina Italiana Design with Sergio. Gino Gervasoni was at the helm – he’s someone who’s not spoken about much but he has made important contributions to the Riva legend. This was followed by a “dark” period that lasted until the yard joined Ferretti Group. Alberto Galassi made a crucial mark on the brand, and we played an important role, too. Everyone recognises the stylistic elements we introduced and that define today’s Rivas. We did it gradually, with light touches and always including references to the lines of the past. We tried to maintain continuity while making some kind of break. How would you describe your stylistic hallmarks? Sergio Beretta: Lines that seek to endure. Take the Aquariva for example, it’s been in production for twenty years and has never been changed, just in small details. Aquarama is a star, but we really love Aquariva. Does working with a brand like Riva impose limitations? S.B.: It’s important to metabolise the brand you’re working with, otherwise you become blocked. Now many years have gone by and the Riva lines are in some way our lines, we no longer work to interpret the brand, we seek to carry it forward as an embodiment of what we’ve always believed in. What are the key, essential elements on the Riva craft you’ve designed? M. M.: Clean lines, an equilibrium between interiors and exteriors. One should never spoil the other. Equilibrium is indispensable, you can’t build a yacht that has oceans of space but is deeply unattractive. Someone buying a Riva must also acquire a totally beautiful object. That’s a given. How do you see Riva’s future? S. B.: Riva has experienced incredible development, it’s what was wanted, and it still has enormous potential. If you ask me, we’re just at the beginning!

Top, a sketch of the Aquariva, whose sinuous lines recall those of a shark. Below, the Argo 90’, displaying Mauro Micheli’s artistic prowess