What happens when you hire one of the world’s most conceptual architects to design a super yacht? You get a futuristic, sci-fi-looking boat with shapes and lines that are as fluid as the water it glides on. That’s what happened when German shipbuilder Blohm + Voss tapped “starchitect” Zaha Hadid to design six different yachts (via Wallpaper).
The six yachts, called Unique Circle, consist of one 420-foot “mothership” that serves as the main design, with five other smaller 295-foot vessels based off the larger prototype. Elements of Hadid’s architecture, whose signature style defies conventional design, are evident, from the lattice formation on the exterior to the fluid lines and organic outlines. Blohm + Voss, as shipbuilder, brought its boat-building know-how, particularly in the area of using composite materials.
“As a dynamic object that moves in dynamic environments, the design of a yacht must incorporate additional parameters beyond those for architecture – which all become much more extreme on water,” Hadid wrote. “Each yacht is an engineered platform that integrates specific hydrodynamic and structural demands together with the highest levels of comfort, spatial quality and safety.”
Although Hadid’s brilliant sculptural architecture challenges the boring designs that end up being built, in the past she’s had difficulty seeing her work come to fruition. However, in recent years, we’re seeing more of her work move from concept to reality. The design for the Jazz, the first of five smaller yachts, has been worked into a technically buildable ship, but the next goal would be to actually put one on the sea.
(Images via Zaha Hadid Architects)
