Russian-born Igor Lobanov runs a design studio in London where
the focus is on private plane and yacht design. After taking the position as
owner’s representative for the megayacht project Sigma, Lobanov turned
his copious automotive design experience toward things more aeronautical and
nautical.
After finishing a bachelor’s degree in science at Moscow State
University and first- and second-year studies in transport design in Turin,
Italy, Igor Lobanov worked with the Volkswagen exterior design department for a
year before turning to yachting. In 2003, Lobanov was appointed owner’s
representative for the Blohm and Voss-built, 123-meter yacht Sigma,
designed by Philippe Starck. The project clearly had an impact on Lobanov
because he soon turned from automobile to yacht and plane design with the
founding of his company Lobanov Ltd. in 2007. While looking to garner
comprehensive interior/exterior design projects in the future, things are going
well for the firm. It currently has three contracts for exterior design and
general arrangements on motor yachts ranging from 40 to 120 meters. Lobanov is
also involved with the interior design of a 49-meter project and the interior
refit of a 60-meter shadow vessel.
Igor Lobanov’s previous automotive design career
influences his chic spaces. He has a strong relationship with 3-D forms and
begins designing with models rather than drawing boards. (Click images to enlarge)
The designer, who thinks and shapes more like a "yacht
sculptor," has always enjoyed the early stages of design, such as the sketching
and imagining of surfaces and shapes. In fact, each concept begins with clay
half-models of the yachts set against a mirror, in the way of car designers."This [design method] helps to understand shape and balance and
to make a complete thing," says Lobanov.
 Igor Lobanov. (Click image to enlarge)
The company’s approach to design eliminates definitive side
and top views, instead blending hull and superstructures in a new, unified way.
"We have a more three-dimensional approach to the design of the yacht than is
usual," says Lobanov. "More attention is paid to shape, proportions and
surfaces."
Nowhere is this more evident than with the concept for the
105-meter luxury yacht White Night. Developed in two different color
schemes, the White Night/Dark Angel design is like a ripple on the water.
The sleek, stealth design with its 3-D hull and endless flat teak surfaces seems
like a luxury patrol cruiser out to stalk the myriad famed and notorious ports
of the Mediterranean and beyond. (Think Lex Luthor’s yacht in "Superman
Returns.") Another of Lobanov’s concepts is Liza, an elegant
100-meter yacht. Less conceptual than the White Night/Dark Angel design,
Liza is a clean, elegant and handsome new perspective on the modern motor
yacht exterior. A brief glance at her GA also shows some forward
thinking—thinking destined to no doubt shake things up a bit when we see the
firm’s interior projects come to fruition. Contact Lobanov Ltd. at +44 207 748
0820. www.lobanov.co.uk
|
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
Email This
Printer Friendly Version
Reprints & Permissions
Most Popular Searches