Automakers such as Aston Martin and Porsche have
ventured into to yacht design and they're being joined by Alfonso Albaisa who
is senior vice president of global design for Nissan. is latest project is the
Motali which is a 33 meter long luxury yacht that measures three
stories tall.
According to Albaisa, he was approached by a Turkish
client in 1990 about the possibility of designing a luxury yacht. While he was
already working at Nissan at the time, he says the opportunity was too good to
pass up as it combined "my lifelong passion with the job I love."
The client gave Albaisa a rather interesting design
brief as customer told him to imagine the Motali backing into its mooring at
Monaco and stated the "rear view of this vessel should be like no
other." Albaisa set to work and created a stylish luxury yacht which
features curved windows, a dynamic bow, and a uniquely shaped upper cabin.
According to the designer, he wanted to create something truly beautiful so he
gave the Motali a "bullet-like expression and with romantic tapering at
the stern that tumbles inwards, similar to the classic vessels of the
1950s."
Of course, the switch from car design to yacht
design wasn't exactly easy as Albaisa noted the sheer size of the project made
designing it more like creating a building. He also noted the views out the
Motali's windows would be as important as the vessel itself.
Albaisa has been pretty busy lately as he helped to
create a handful of impressive models including the Infiniti Q60 and the
Infiniti Prototype 9.
