Mondo Marine's M57 Eidos yacht concept

25 February 2015 • Written by Risa Merl

The first collaboration between a builder and designer is always an interesting thing to behold: just how will the designer’s style complement or influence a yard’s established ethos? Judging by the new M57 Eidos concept, the initial offering from Italian superyacht builder Mondo Marine and ever-rising design talent Enrico Gobbi, of Team 4 Design, the pairing seems a good fit.

A profile view of the new M57 Eidos concept from Mondo Marine and Enrico Gobbi

Seeking a yacht that was missing in its current lineup, Mondo Marine gave Gobbi a specific brief, to design them, “a superyacht of about 60 metres, with a displacement hull and sleek, attractive exterior lines,” says Gobbi. The yacht was to be sporty, but also elegant with comfortable interior spaces. Naval architecture is by Italy’s Giuseppe Arrabito, who was tasked with creating a yacht that has good performance and long-range capabilities.

Gobbi was inspired by the natural marine world and automative design in his styling for the Eidos yacht

In ancient Greek, Eidos translates to shape, and the 57-metre M57 Eidos superyacht concept is intended to instantly captivate with its exterior styling. Gobbi was inspired by nature and the marine world for the flowing exterior styling, and specific cues were also taken from the automotive design world to emphasise the yacht’s sporty look.

The main saloon of the M57 Eidos superyacht

Mondo’s brief encouraged Gobbi to style a well-balanced yacht. The M57 Eidos offers wide spaces, which cleverly take advantage of the exterior volumes, all in a sporty yacht design. “Eidos has a very unique exterior style, balanced proportions and excellent performance on long range navigation,” Gobbi says. “It offers spacious areas and great comfort without penalising the exterior design.”

Much attention has been paid to the lighting plan of the new Mondo M57 Eidos yacht concept

Mondo and Gobbi put particular attention towards the exterior lighting plan of its M57 Eidos yacht. Indirect lights are used broadly, always hidden as to not dazzle the eye. Long threads of light are used to emphasise the yacht’s length and also to highlight its exterior styling details. In this vein, the gill detailing found at the aft of each deck’s superstructure are illuminated by indirect light. “These threads of light designed for Eidos haven’t ever been seen before,” says Gobbi, who says the lights aren’t intended to be eccentric, but created a minimal and elegant night scene. Certainly the yacht’s lighting plan creates a completely different mood and profile.

Contemporary and modern motifs combine to create an elegant interior. Gobbi employs geometric shapes and refined materials, such as light ivory-coloured oak wood, contrasting with dark wenge. Furniture and tapestries would come from Armani Casa.

The terrace off the owner's suite on the M57 Eidos yacht was inspired by beach villas

Large windows on each deck play up the interaction between the interior and exterior places, creating panoramic floor-to-ceiling views from inside. The enclosed terrace in the master suite, located off the owner’s private lounge and office, makes good use of glass. The space is inspired by terraces found on luxury beach villas, Gobbi explains. “An impressively large glass surface with slide opening doors that cover the whole length of the room provide a breathtaking view,” he says.

According to Mondo Marine, the shipyard has had positive feedback to its new M57 Eidos concept, and is “currently working on a total custom M57 Eidos with two different client prospects”. The M57 Eidos superyacht concept is for sale asking €35 million.

An aerial view of the M57 Eidos yacht concept from the Mondo and Gobbi

As for the future of Gobbi and Mondo collaborating, the designer is positive as well, “This is our first project developed for Mondo, but we have already started speaking about some new designs.”

We’ll look forward to more creative cooperations from this meeting of minds.

In the meantime, see a video tour of M57 Eidos superyacht concept here:

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