During the Monaco Yacht Show 2023, Italian designers presented the latest innovations in the use of biotechnological materials for Yacht Interior Design, as a concrete answer to the yacht industry’s environmental responsibility towards our seas
Tuscan architect Alessandro Pulina, founder of Pulina Exclusive Interiors, is a name that yacht enthusiasts will surely recognize through the interior design of the superyacht CRN Rio. In Croatia he is also known as designer of exclusive Riva lounge in Ikador hotel.
With a team of 15 professionals, developing projects around the world, Pulina Exclusive Interiors specialises in the design of high-end private residential, hotel and luxury yacht projects, working out of the company’s headquarters and Shanghai offices. Based on principles of design established to create environments and spaces that improve the quality of life, each project is tailored to the customer’s needs.
Working with richest clientele of the world it is noticeable the wish to go a different, more environmental friendly way in yachting and his initiative is concrete and very enthusiastic in this. In conjunction with the Sant’Anna Institute in Pisa through LAB11, he has developed the ambitious project ‘Aligned with Sustainability’, which promotes the use of new materials developed through biotechnology research, with the involvement of five Italian companies working in this industry and aiming for responsible and realistic sustainability to achieve a more ecological future.
The idea is to use materials produced with biotechnology in yacht interior design to make different and informed choices, supported by across-the-board research. As well as reducing emissions, there is the need to find solutions that make alignment possible with other industries that have already achieved significant results in terms of environmental protection.
‘The yachting industry is making great strides in this direction. It is a challenge that requires a major effort, and the only goal must be to protect the planet’, says Pulina. ‘This is our contribution. We have finally found the way to make a difference in an area in which there is much research and many promises are made, but still nothing revolutionary. With the collaboration of LAB11, we are conducting a market research project in Italy that aims to identify businesses with an interest in the use of biotechnology materials in the yachting industry, and now, with them, we are introducing solutions on board that will finally represent a green breakthrough’.
The event was promoted by Cantalupi Light Engineering, the storied Tuscan company that has made sustainability its core value. Attending the Monaco event was Alessandro Bedini, Head of Marketing and Communications, who explained how Cantalupi was a pioneer of LED lighting in the yacht industry back in 2005, and how since 2012 this is the only technology produced by the company.
The ‘Aligned with Sustainability’ project is: Artep, which produces made to measure rugs using natural materials; Ohoskin, a Sicilian company that transforms orange and prickly pear sub-products into an alternative material to animal leather; Rada, a Forlì-based company that produces fabrics with natural fibres and recycled materials; and VGHN, the Florentine hemp processing company.
According to Artep CEO Riccardo Meglioranzi, ‘It is important to raise awareness in the yachting industry about the need for a return to artisan products made with highly sustainable new generation or natural materials. We use materials that require less water in the dyeing process, don’t release microplastics during washing, and are biodegradable. They are joined by new generation materials such as certified Tencel, a fibre obtained from eucalyptus wood pulp, and materials such as Sari Silk, a silk recycled from waste fabric produced in the process of making saris, the traditional garments worn by Indian women’.
Alessandro Scuderi, CMO of Ohoskin, tells us about a 2019 startup in Sicily. ‘It all started with the idea of using a patented circular economy process to produce an alternative to leather from agricultural sub-products, and in particular waste products from prickly pear pruning and orange pressing activities, combined with recycled plastic. Our products have been successfully tested in yachting applications’.
His words are echoed by Davide Ravaglioli, General Manager of Rada, a Brianza-based company that supplies leading brands such as Cassina, Flexform and Kartell. ‘At this event we presented Reviva, a project that uses recycled plastic to produce high-quality fabrics with characteristics suited above all to outdoor applications and therefore ideal in yachting.’
Concluding, VGHN (Very Genuine Hemp Nature) founder Paolo Quirici tells us about a very interesting event for the entire Interior Design segment. ‘Our cruelty free and above all healthy and safe products are made from hemp mulch, a material that saves a considerable amount of water during cultivation and requires no pesticides. When you remember that a hectare of land planted with hemp produces as much oxygen as 25 hectares of forest, you realise the importance of this plant that regenerates the soil by aligning all the natural minerals, is antibacterial, antifungal and fireproof, and shields against electromagnetic waves’.
The whole concept is enthusiastic and has foundation at the ideas that Pulina Exclusive Interiors will be applying to upcoming Yacht Interior Design projects. We wish them the best of success and hope to apply new materials in Croatia too.
Text Darko Šupuk
Photos Pulina Exclusive Interiors
