By Roberto Franzoni.
The de Jorio Design firm was founded in the early 1960s. It soon won a place for itself in the design of cruise ships, ferries and yachts. The architect Giuseppe de Jorio began working on the design of passenger ships in the early 1960s. In the 1980s he was joined by his sons Vittorio and Marco, who embody the perspective of the new generation in terms of creativity and management. From 1964 to 1975 the firm acted as consultants to Flotta Lauro, British Railways, Trans Mediterranée de Navigation and the Canguri shipping line. From 1978 to 1994 de Jorio Design worked as consultant for the Costa Crociere group.
In 1975 Giuseppe de Jorio was awarded the prestigious Lloyd’s Trophy for the design of Mohamedia, a 48-meter yacht built for the Saudi financier Adnan Khashoggi. A few years later he devised the general layout of the mythical Nabila for the same client. After that he designed many more yachts, including the 26-meter schooner Stalca II for Prince Rainier of Monaco, the 64-meter Luisella, now the Alexandra Maria, built by the Codecasa shipyards in Viareggio, and the stunning 51 meter Blue Shadow, built by the prestigious Lürssen yard in Bremen. The firm’s latest yacht design was the 64-meter El Bravo, now Shahnaz, launched at Pietra Ligure in 1991 and refitted in 2000.
Over the past ten years the de Jorio firm has been responsible for all the design work for Grandi Navi Veloci: Majestic (1993), Splendid (1994), Fantastic (1996), Excellent (1998), Vittoria (1999), Excelsior (1999), La Superba (2002) and La Suprema (2003), which have set the benchmark in the world market of cruise ferries.
For the design of La Superba the de Jorio firm won the prestigious ShipPax Award 2003.
The firm is also responsible for the design of four new high speed, next-generation cruise ships built by Fincantieri for the Greek Minoan lines. They are the Knossos Palace, Festos Palace (2001), Olympia Palace (2001) and Europa Palace (2002). For the design of the Knossos Palace the de Jorio firm was awarded the prestigious Cruise & Ferry Award 2001.
In 2003 and 2004 the firm began its partnership with MSC, with the delivery of two cruise ships, MSC Lirica and MSC Opera, built at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique. The same yard also built the MSC Musica and MSC Orchestra to original designs by de Jorio Design International for MSC Cruises.
These craft were joined by the MSC Poesia and her two sister ships MSC Fantasia and MSC Splendida, Panamax super-ships with completely new concept designs delivered in 2008-2009.
The firm was also chosen by the Italian Navy and Fincantieri for the design of all public spaces (saloons, entertainment areas and restaurants) for crew and officers on board the new aircraft carrier Conte di Cavour, delivered in 2007.
We meet Vittorio de Jorio in Genoa, at the firm’s original premises in Piazza della Vittoria. Vittorio graduated in Rome in 1982. His mentors were the great architects who rebuilt post-war Italy, from Zevi to Portoghesi, Coppola and Dardi. He began working in civil architecture, as there was no specialization in naval architecture in those days. He believes this was better because it gave him a broad interdisciplinary training in transversal and composite techniques. This rich background was essential in enabling him to work with his father Giuseppe, the firm’s founder.
We talk about the use of stone on shipboard.
“Stone is very reliable in terms of durability,” begins Vittorio de Jorio, “while also ensuring an outstanding aesthetic value. It adds luster to the interiors. ‘Luster’ comes from Greek and means radiance. Hence stone gives splendor to the areas where it is applied. Aboard cruise ships the scenic quality is crucial, in addition to the practical aspects of durability and maintenance. So over time stone has come to play an increasingly dominant role. Since cruise liners have many public spaces to be filled with different functions and needs, during meetings with the owner the choices are made of the kinds of stone to be used. Then the various authorities involved in the project have to approve the final choice. We suggest a selection, but since the yard is responsible to the owners for building a ship, the yard’s firms and contractors choose the supplier. And this is not all, because with our list of suppliers and samples, we get to choose a specific block of stone, since we know that marble varies greatly and there can be huge differences between one piece and another.
All the same, we then have to whittle down the choice, because we know some kinds of stone are not available for what we can call the prêt-à-porter sector, and the waiting times, together with various hitches, stretch out far too long. Then the architect has a heavy responsibility in making the choice, because he has to understand what will happen to the cut stone. Sometimes, after the block is sawn, the results are not always quite what was expected! Overall, this process of choosing, selecting, identifying and sawing, right down to the final outcome, takes many months.”
In choosing stone do you look at its hardness as a guarantee of durability?
Of course. Sometimes, for the sake of a stone, a color or a pattern, you choose a stone whose mechanical properties aren’t perfectly suited to the function. The material can sometimes be worked by the supplier to improve its specifications, but it doesn’t always come off. When you’re working with natural materials, there can always be surprises.
On contemporary craft there are facilities that ships never had in the past, like spas and fitness centers, which are typically faced and decorated with stone…
In such settings stone is certainly necessary and much in evidence. But nowadays stone is used in all ship’s spaces, from the big saloons to the bars, from the walkways to the vestibules, and from the most luxurious cabin bathrooms to the shops, games rooms and gyms. Stone has various advantages. For example, in a restaurant, where foot traffic is frequent and concentrated, a soft floor wouldn’t last long. Durability, hygiene and cleanability have enforced the use of stone.
Does stone raise problems for the architectural designer?
The application of a synthetic material raises hardly any problems. A laminate, carpet, or stabilized wood have fixed, known and tabulated mechanical, physical, and color specifications. Stone is a product of nature. Whenever you quarry, cut or process it, you get different results. It takes more time, more effort, more care and yields more surprises! But here lies its beauty. Working with this treasure of nature has a fascination that is priceless.
Do you have any personal preferences when it comes to stone? In your portfolio dark colors seem to dominate…
The material that produces the finest aesthetic and visual effects is richly colored, with strong hues. The clearer and more delicate marbles could be suited to specific areas but it’s always good to create contrasts, at least by alternating chromatic patterns. In reality, however, the primary choices are made by the ship’s owner and in our case, in particular, the owner’s wife.
What is the average foot traffic area of a large public space in a contemporary cruise ship?
Some saloons can be up to 1000 square meters, where the marble used amounts to as much as 40 percent. But you have to be careful not to overdo the use of stone. You don’t want it to look like a car showroom!
And what about the overall surface area available to the passengers aboard a 300-meter ship with seventeen decks and say 3000 travelers?
It would be about 30,000 square meters. The parts that can be faced with stone could go as high as 30 percent. Then if you include vertical surfaces it could be as much as 35 percent.
Which is bigger – a ship or a one hundred-story skyscraper?
Comparisons are difficult, but a ship, which can now be anything up to 50 meters wide and over 60 high, has an even larger volume, though with a different distribution of the public and utility spaces. Of course the ship is a huge machine in motion, unlike a skyscraper.
Since shipbuilding is slowing dramatically, the designers and shipyards still have a refit market. How does the refitting of ships work?
The lifespan of a ship is about twenty years. The owners take some five to six years to pay the craft off and after that it’s all theirs. In the meantime, many things will have changed, with new standards, new facilities and changing tastes. What’s more, as the ship ages maintenance become more expensive. But you can’t just throw it away because in the meantime the customers have become attacked to it. They still want to go cruising on that ship. The Costa Romantica, for example, had a refit after twenty years that cost 75 million euros. It was extensively refurbished, having been stretched, built up higher and completely remodeled inside. Commercially it has a new appeal, but in the collective memory it still remains somehow the Costa Romantica.
You also have a responsibility for the aesthetics of the outside of the ship?
Of course, since each vessel has to be recognizable and a fleet needs to have a strong family feeling to communicate with its public and reassure them with similar forms. Recognizability and identity are key elements in marketing cruises.
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