In the interior design industry, partnerships with fashion houses are common; the two blend with ease and this symbiosis often produce dynamic results. Sailing around Europe this summer on my family's Perini Navi I flicked open a yachting magazine to be greeted with a fascinatingly refreshing story about a design collaboration of a different kind; a superstar architect and a super yacht.

At the end of 2009 the Perini Navi Group launched the SY Panthalassa as part of their 56 meter series. A world leader in the construction of luxury yachts, Perini Navi are also the creators of the Maltese Falcon and have earned a reputation in my mind as the creators of luxury, quality, sophistication and elegance.

 

The design team responsible for the SY Panthalassa is comprised of an eclectic bunch of innovative and pioneering experts. The line-up: yacht designer Ron Holland, London architects Fosters + Partners, the Perini Navi navel architectural team and the engineers and craftsmen at the boatyard in Viareggio, Italy.

 

The SY Panthalassa is a showcase of innovative design with moments of genius so exciting they could make the most experienced sailor weak at the knees. The exterior is slick and beautifully streamlined. According to the article in Supersail World the interiors, designed by Foster + Partners, are based on ‘wellbeing and harmony'; they have certainly achieved this. For me personally, the redeeming feature is the intelligent use of light; the sun streams into its interior and transforms a typically dark environment into an open, airy, living space.

 

Foster + Partners are responsible for some of the most contemporary and monumental architecture worldwide; famous for the nicknamed "Gherkin" building in London, their recent work is wildly original. Their unique attitude to design and charismatic style is channeled into every corner of the SY Panthalassa interior. The natural materials of teak, leather and granite in neutral calming tones combine subtly to create accommodation that proves the designer has paid attention to the climate, culture, physical context and ecology of its surroundings. Foster has challenged conventional yacht design, lacing the boat with distinctive features. Light reflecting acrylic rods mirror daylight back into the living areas, the 3 levels are connected by an oval spiral staircase, and skylights draw in daylight. Advocates of quality, the design of the SY Panthalassa is a synthesis of the most vital elements and maintains an eye to detail between both ends of the spectrum.

The SY Panthalassa represents so many of my great loves; sailing, the ocean, Perini Navi and all things travel related... as well as unique and contemporary design with plenty of light, stunning views and an overall feeling of blissful serenity.

When I attended the Venezia Design Leadership Summit in Venice, Italy this April, I was taken on a whirlwind tour of design's latest and greatest achievements and innovations. Yet in a city like Venice, just as it should, the strongest inspiration always sources from the breathtaking architecture and utter loveliness of the canalled city. I left Venice, as I imagine most do, in a romantic cloud. Ideas swirled through my head, fueled by the excitement of the breathtaking events I was fortunate enough to be a part of and the interesting, creative people I was fortunate enough to meet.

Then, quite unexpectedly, my whimsical Venetian bubble seemed to pop, as the ease with which technology has allowed us to travel the globe was suddenly interrupted when a volcano erupted in Iceland. I had just arrived in London for my long leg across the Atlantic, when like so many around me; I was jolted into the practical operation of figuring out how to get home. In my 30+ years of traveling solo to what's felt like the farthest corners of the globe, I've never felt quite as isolated as I did upon learning that, even if only for that small stretch of time, there was actually no way home. I lucked out with the weather, every day was sunny...70'F and springtime everywhere.

When the uncertainty of the situation fully sunk in, I decided to make the most of the circumstances. I was lucky to meet up with other people from the Venetian design summit, who'd also found themselves stranded far from home and, thanks to my amazing sfa team back in Santa Barbara, I was also able to capitalize on my time in London, meeting with some of the top hotel operators in the UK and establishing some wonderful relationships with individuals in the luxury residential market.

After 10 days of weighing every possible option (including taking the six-day voyage to the States aboard the QE2), I was thrilled to catch a flight home. The unexpected time in London had turned out to be exceptionally rewarding on a professional level. With the new projects sfa has taken on in Africa and the Middle East, our firm is seriously considering the possibility of adding a London location by 2011, finding the city an ideal spot for a satellite office. On a personal level, I am grateful to those I met as a result of these events, those I continue to get to know and my extraordinary team at home for making the journey much more productive and far less lonely.

At sfa, summer has always been a time to get inspired. Not only does our hometown of Santa Barbara, California come to life, cast beneath a blanket of boundless sunlight that lasts late into the evening, but seasonal travel sends our designers to all areas of the globe - on endeavors from which they return sunburned and bursting with ideas.

As sfa embarks on summer 2010, our team is already feeling the creative flames ignite, with activity picking up and new projects continuously being added to the back burner. Having watched our industry fall into dark, unstable times and having directly felt the effects of a shaken market, I am witnessing a gradual but welcome return of opportunity, as new exciting avenues take shape.

sfa has paved its way, taking on luxury hotel projects in the Middle East and filling our residential portfolio with new incredible private residences in California and New York. I am constantly uplifted by our team's drive and ability to succeed, even in tough economic times and remain optimistic about the future and, of course, a very bright, illuminating summer.

I wanted to share some of my experiences from a recent trip I took to Oman, U.A.E., where sfa is set to start work on a five-star resort modeled after the native architecture of the area.  As the government begins to shift its fiscal focus from a dwindling supply of oil, to the advancing field of luxury tourism, five-star hotels are beginning to emerge throughout Oman. The hotel’s design is intended to be a contemporary vision of a grand traditional Oman fort and village. Our design team has been greatly inspired by the vibrant culture, the rich and varied terrain and the ancient history of Oman, bringing in the impressive elements of stone and the lovely oasis of Oman.

While the resort itself is located on the ocean, I spent much of my time there straying from the construction site and traveling inland to remote villages where we looked at incredible stone forts and fortresses for inspiration. The unique landscape and rich history were welcome distractions from the sweltering 138-degree heat. Inspiration and interest were incited in every mountain-embedded fort and stone village I encountered.

Unlike the other Emirates I’ve visited, everything was low but with huge mountains that look like crushed granite, natural springs and endless desert – the Grand Canyon meets Saudi Arabia. I had never until my visit seen real-life oasis, lush jungles amid the vast desert. The forts themselves carried centuries of history – one Pre-Islamic fort we visited is speculated to be 2,000 years old. With a prime trade location on the Red Sea, Oman was left vulnerable to intrusion from other countries passing through on trade routes, forcing locals to live in forts and fortresses.

The architecture itself was inspirational. Unlike Abu Dhabi or Dubai, the stone structures offer a true sense of going back in time. The villages look as if they’ve grown organically out of rock, with caves covering the landscape. I marveled to our architect from Mexico City at how some aspects of the architecture – thick stone walls and tiny windows - mirrored a more Mexican-style architecture. He reminded me how man adapts to their resources – creating universality in certain architectural aesthetics. Natural elements such as climate and clay combine to dictate the shape and structure of a building. This realization of the reactive nature of architecture influenced my vision for our latest project in Oman, as I believe it will impact and inspire me on many projects to come.

I am thrilled to introduce sfa design's brand new site, featuring some of our latest, most exciting design endeavors and, of course,  to unveil our new blog, the sfa Salon. For Kara (sfa design's president) and I, the Salon presents an opportunity to share with you our latest discoveries and observations of the ever-evolving landscape of interior design.  When we first set out to redesign the sfa site, we wanted to create a space that would reflect and pay tribute to the past 13 years that have passed since sfa's 1996 founding. The delightfully immediate nature of a blog appealed to both Kara and I, as we could think of no better way to share the projects, products and processes that we spend our days joyfully pouring over and the many ideas (large and small) that we conger up along the way.

In my 30 years in the industry, I've been fortunate to have a career that has taken me around the world, where I've been exposed to the imagination and aesthetic of countless cultures and innovators in our field. When I founded sfa in 1996, my dream was to create a more modestly sized firm that commanded precise attention and creative customization for a broad spectrum of projects,  from grand-scale resorts to private homes. Being able to realize and reinvent this dream every day in new and unchartered destinations on fun and challenging projects, I can only hope my  experience and  enthusiasm in the land of design will prove insightful and, or the very least, contagious. I hope you enjoy!