Designer Interviews: Chris Bangle on his work with Sanlorenzo super yachts

Chris Bangle is feeling seasick. By his own admission, the four hours we spend aboard the San Lorenzo SL108 super yacht will double his experience on board a boat. “It’s true,” says Bangle, leaving the lounge and moving aft, to seat himself at the centre of a dining table on the rear deck.

It may not be the best point of departure on a project which will see the celebrated, if controversial, former design chief of BMW Group create a new product range for the Italian super-yacht company, based in Viareggio. In addition to design, Chris Bangle Associates (CBA) will be involved in brand and product strategy for the next decade, though the first fruits of the partnership should be unveiled during 2016.

CBA and San Lorenzo co-branded poster

“The roots of car design lie in boat design. If you look at how a boat is lofted and how a car is surfaced, it’s the same thing, a different scale, but it is exactly the same.

“Then there are visibility lines, access, need for traffic flow management, security, privacy. Unlike a car, a boat is a living entity. It is a vibrant, living environment. There is more movement happening [on a boat] than in an apartment building. The boat is the last bastion of having the freedom to do what you want.”

CBA will work with Sanlorenzo’s in-house team to design a range of innovative exteriors for the Italian boatyard’s next generation of yachts.

Interior of the Sanlorenzo SL106

“We are not saying ‘Hey Chris come back with a boat’,” adds group president and general manager of Sanlorenzo Spa, Ferruccio Rossi. “That would be a disaster. Everyone is working closely together, exchanging ideas. This represents the real value for us. This was the moment we realised he could help us a lot, not just in terms of design but in terms of shaping our brand and product strategy for the next decade.”

Bangle’s breadth of experience, even though it lacks yacht design, is an absolute plus for the Sanlorenzo brand, according to Rossi:

“We believe Chris can really delve into what makes the brand, what makes Sanlorenzo different,” he says. “We are big admirers of the work he did at BMW Group to create new product lines but without diluting [each of the brands he managed].

“This is particularly the case for the work he did with Rolls-Royce, to relaunch with a product that was absolutely contemporary but immediately recognisable as a Rolls-Royce product. He did the same with Mini. He has now done this with Hennessy.”

The SL106, Sanlorenzo’s ‘3 Series’

Sanlorenzo is a success story. The second-largest boat builder, behind compatriot firm Benetti, in 2014 it built 34 yachts. These are minuscule figures when compared to the scale of the car industry’s mass production. But unlike the car industry every centimetre is made by hand. For a company that designs and constructs tailor-made boats, that is a lot of work.

But if Bangle is feeling the pressure he doesn’t show it, though it is something he acknowledges readily. Ultimately says Bangle, it will be up to the yacht design community to take a view:

“I don’t want to feel the pressure of this. I want to do this naturally and organically and say OK this is it, it’s correct, my team believes this is correct, my client believes this is correct. At that point it should be. If the reaction from the public and press is shock, that’s okay because we believe we’re right. Then if we’re right public opinion will come around.

“I hope to show that I can communicate to the nautical world that I am extremely respectful of it. But in some way, shape or form I can stimulate a debate; a rethink about how some things are done. And afterwards people say, ‘OK I’m happy he participated’.”