The Benetti yacht Oasis, designed in collaboration with Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture’s Enrico Bonetti and Dominic Kozerski.
Photo: Courtesy of Benetti
Bonetti/Kozerski Crafts a Remarkably Appointed Yacht for Benetti
The 40-meter Oasis marks the New York–based architecture and design firm’s first waterborne project
The yacht served as the first design project where Bonetti/Kozerski included their new Plateau collection of furniture with Sutherland. Photo: Courtesy of Benetti
Multidisciplinary firm Bonetti/Kozerski is known for crafting truly transportive spaces for a diverse array of clients, among them Pace Gallery in New York and Ian Schrager’s West Hollywood EDITION hotel. Now, with the debut of a remarkably appointed 40-meter Benetti yacht, the studio’s latest project can literally ferry visitors to another place.
“Caterina Fabrizio, the owner of Dedar and a joint friend of ours, introduced us to Giovanna Vitelli, Vice President of Azimut Benetti Group, who was looking for designers outside the yachting world to create a boat with a different point of view,” says partner Enrico Bonetti, who runs the Manhattan–based practice with Dominic Kozerski. “We usually have to create something tailored to a specific person or, at least, in a commercial project, to a particular place. In this case, our task drifted toward industrial design: create a product that could be used by anyone, anywhere. We imagined an ideal owner, someone active and elegantly informal, and we made a custom boat for them.”
Enrico Bonetti and Dominic Kozerski. Photo: Courtesy of Sutherland
Christened Oasis, the ultra-chic vessel comprises four decks, five cabins, an infinity pool, and a yoga area. A spacious open floor plan helps provide unobstructed views, while large glass windows and doors gracefully tuck away to aid in the seamless flow between inside and out.
“As architects and designers, we feel closer to expert generalists than to specialists: there is a great added value when we approach a field that we haven’t touched before,” Bonetti tells Galerie. “We do not have any cultural or professional baggage, and that gives us fresh eyes to find a solution that most of the time ends up being quite innovative. The fluidity and the calmness inside of the Oasis is a result of this.”
The Bonetti/Kozerski designed living and dining spaces inside the main deck of Oasis 40M Benetti yacht. Photo: Courtesy of Benetti
“We admire the way that Enrico and Dominic think holistically—from the small to the large scale, from the details of furniture and art to the rhythm of spaces, volumes, and materials,” Vitelli tells Galerie. “They embody a European approach that strives to create spaces that possess an aesthetic of understated luxury and warm modernism. Bonetti/Kozerski was the perfect firm to collaborate on this project as their design fit the Class line’s mold—the interiors represent a casual-chic attitude, which is precisely the ambiance we wish to convey.”
Bonetti/Kozerski experimented with unconventional design elements, including teak flooring that continues from the outdoor deck into the main bath and bedroom suite. Photo: Courtesy of Benetti
As part of Bonetti/Koerski’s yachting debut, the designers experimented with unconventional elements not often found in boat interiors, including teak floor in the bath and shower that’s a continuation of the outdoor deck material. “The first boat owner says that he loves this feature and that when he wakes up in the morning and sets foot on the floor, he feels that he is already outside and part of the ocean,” says Bonetti. This project also marked the yacht debut of the designers’s new collection of outdoor furniture with Sutherland.
The upper deck offers more space for entertaining. Photo: Courtesy of Benetti
To further create a calming atmosphere, the designers blended refined materials like leather and rosewood in an elegant neutral palette. “Our experience in hospitality helped us with the functionality and durability of the selected materials,” says Bonetti. “As boats have to endure extreme conditions and can also be charted by various groups, we went with more resilient solutions than residential design.”
The Benetti 40M Oasis yacht includes four decks, five cabins, an infinity pool, and yoga area. Photo: Courtesy of Benetti
More than a year in the making, the yacht was constructed in Benetti’s Livorno plant outside Tuscany, Italy, an area rich with marble and leather master craftsmen whose work is beautifully demonstrated on board.
“A yacht must first evoke the emotions of a buyer. We have forged exclusive collaborations with the finest contemporary architects and designers for this very reason,” says Vitelli. “By introducing their talents into this new space at sea, they have successfully led our group to a more avant-garde approach to design. We hope to continue to push the yachting industry forward by challenging what a typically designed yacht is. I believe that design, innovation, and disruption of the ‘norm’ create that perfect emotional experience our clients are seeking today.”
Cover: The Benetti yacht Oasis, designed in collaboration with Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture’s Enrico Bonetti and Dominic Kozerski.
Photo: Courtesy of Benetti
