Yacht designer Cristiano Gatto talks to DN: “We turn our clients’ dreams into reality”
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Accedi RegistratiDesigner Cristiano Gatto explains to DN his philosophy, centred around quality and a process that marries ideas and production
Designer Cristiano Gatto explains to DN his philosophy, centred around quality and a process that marries ideas and production
During the of the sixth edition Venice Boat Show, Daily Nautica had the opportunity to interview well-known designer, Cristiano Gatto. His studio, founded in 2001, has completed 270 projects for different international shipyards, including Astondoa, with whom he has been working for over twenty years. His work method unites project management and design, allowing him to follow the product through all its p0hases, from idea to final manufacture.
25 years of business
Cristiano Gatto Design studio is going through a golden period, with 22 different projects on the go and 7 to be delivered by September 2026. The company works more with Northern Europe, where the studio is working on boats over 2000 tonnes, working in particular with Dutch shipyard, Heesen. Instead, in the Middle East, they are working with Gulf Craft on carbon fibre vessels ranging from 120 to 180 feet. They also have a fruitful partnership with two Italian shipyards, with whom they are working on design and production control.
Two other vessels for Astondoa, a company with a special significance for the designer, are on the table. “I began – shares Cristiano Gatto with Daily Nautica – to work with Astondoa in 2000, right when I had decided I would no longer work in the nautical field. Nevertheless, Mr Astondoa insisted that I should continue to make boats, and so we signed our first contract. From that moment my studio was founded, and this year we are celebrating 25 years. Since then, we have been working together on two, three, four vessels a year, and it is always satisfying, especially because we have the same work ethos, where quality is the best way to show what you can do.”
Philosophy
According to Cristiano Gatto, beauty is necessary and useful because it gives people a sense of well-being, but it can only stem from interaction between all parties involved in the design. For this reason, design is a comprehensive process, that includes aesthetics and the functional performance of the yacht, the idea, and its construction, obviously based on the client’s needs.
“I studied – explains Gatto – at a Fine Arts academy and graduated as a sculptor, so, my idea of marrying idea and production comes from how I studied to become a designer. This then became the basis for everything that we do: the problem is not only to design an object, but to make that design, that idea, into something that can be built. I always say that we are translators, interpreting the client’s dreams and turning them into reality, because we need to move from one language to another in order to make it happen. This is the difference between the way we work compared to others.”
