Aicon 75 Fly: The shape of movement

Written by Miquel Mallafré Photos Miquel Mallafré

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The Italian architec Marco Mannino is the inventor of the Aicon 75 Fly, a yacht whose design is inspired by the representation of what has been called the shape of movement, a concept based on the futuristic manifesto. The idea of centrality on the main deck and on the fly bridge, as well as a kind of loft typology completes its main features.

Presented at the past Cannes boat show, the Aicon 75 Fly is the latest creation of this Sicilian shipyard, that made itself known in the international market during the 2001 Genoa boat show. The history of the company is very closely related to its founder, the architect Lino Siclari. Born in Sicily, Siclari began its professional career in the decoration of stores and showrooms in Milan, where he studied architecture. In 1982 he created Arcom and in 1986 he acquired an industrial space in Sicily to manufacture the pieces that he designed. Arcom designed and produced commercial facilities made in wood and steel destined to hotels and airports. The relation with yachting appeared in 1991 when Fincantieri ordered from them the decoration of large cruisers and in 1993 Aicon was created to make decoration works in the yachting sector, to the point that in 1998 it became Azimut most important supplier. The next step was to purchase a shipyard in Viareggio to acquire the required knowledge for the manufacturing of yachts. The brand name chosen was Aicon, of which Siclari became president and general manager, and thus the Antago 56 was born that soon became the Aicon 56, already manufactured in Giammoro, Sicily. Nowadays the company has shipyards in Giammoro and in Villafranca Tirrena (Messina), a workforce of around 400 employees and a range of yachts that includes the 54, 56, 64, 75 and 85 models with fly bridge and the 62, 72 and 82 open models.
 

A well reasoned design process

The architect and university professor Marco Mannino has carried out this project differentiating between the profile of the yacht and its layout. For the outer image a concept called “shapes in movement” has been applied, partially based on the futuristic manifesto (1909) according to which technology and the admiration for speed were exalted, as well as in the theories of the American designer Norman Bel Geddes (1893-1958) one of the precursors of streamlining or, directly, of the application of the aerodynamic shapes to a great part of the objects of design. These criteria have been applied to the shape of the superstructure, solved with a single line that goes from the windscreen to the poop deck. Below this outline there is the whole lateral window of the saloon and the dining room, with black finishing that integrates the windows themselves and the structure required to support the whole. The shape of the antennae arch, that is raked towards the stern in a peculiar projection that at the same time supports a visor towards the stern, also responds to that concept. This visor acts as a hard ceiling with an opening central section, with the aim of regulating the reach of the sun rays, but with a change of colour that reduces the visual height of the yacht. a The floor layout also presents new concepts, specially on the main deck and on the fly bridge. As on a yacht there are no fixed focal points to which directing the attention, as it happens to the landscape that can be seen from a house, a centrality concept has been used, so that any point of the horizon has the same importance from inside of the yacht. For this reason the furniture on the fly bridge has been arranged as an island shape and the main galley has also been placed amidships.

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