Defined by cutting-edge designs that span over 10,000 items throughout his career, Philippe Starck is world renowned for ‘democratic design’. His work is striking and memorable. So it’s exciting to see his latest effort, the Dream of Winter Gondala, is an impossibly sleek craft, made with a “bio-resin hull and oar made from laminated seaweed and compressed bamboo and a paint finish with shark skin texture for drag reduction“.
Wow.
We love how the futuristic craft still has echoes of an ancient past, almost a melding between ancient and future. The use of color and materials strike a harmonious chord.
Created for the Venice Sustainability Innovation Accelerator, it’s a concept that will help this ancient city find its place in the future, though all of the challenges that climate change brings.
Speaking of the timeless nature of the gondola:
“It is the same untouchable icon, the same iconic silhouette but washed by the time and deeply, structurally modern by the technology”
– Philippe Starck
