Sanlorenzo and Piero Lissoni Dematerialise the SHE Yacht at Milan Design Week 2026

Sanlorenzo returns to Milan Design Week with a project that places yachting squarely within contemporary design discourse. From 20–30 April 2026, the historic Cortile del ’700 at the Università degli Studi di Milano will host UN_Material, a site‑specific installation conceived by Piero Lissoni and presented within the INTERNI MATERIAE programme. Rather than a conventional display of a vessel, the installation treats the yacht as an architectural idea — a form to be drawn in space, experienced from within and imagined through light.

Dematerialising a yacht

UN_Material reconstructs the volume of the SHE yacht through a sequence of full‑scale cross‑sections: semi‑transparent fabrics, fine metal outlines and layered planes create shifting visual effects so that the vessel’s silhouette appears and dissolves with movement and illumination. Elevated on a platform that suggests a waterline, the installation invites visitors to walk through the internal geometry of the boat while moving‑image elements extend the narrative beyond the physical form.

“We worked on the theme of transparency by taking this boat, SHE, as our starting point and dematerialising it,” says Piero Lissoni, Lissoni & Partners and Art Director of Sanlorenzo. “We created ‘slices of the boat’ using a semitransparent fabric that, by day, will appear like a light cloud, while at night it will turn into a true apparition. The dematerialisation of SHE thus becomes the idea of a dream.”

A broader expression of the brand

UN_Material is positioned as more than an exhibition object: it signals a new phase for Sanlorenzo’s engagement with design and culture. “At Sanlorenzo, design has always been a way of thinking — not just a way of building,” says Massimo Perotti, Executive Chairman of Sanlorenzo, underscoring how the yard is extending its presence beyond the shipyard into institutional and cultural platforms.

The installation also marks part of the tenth‑anniversary programme for Sanlorenzo Arts, the brand’s cultural arm that has expanded into exhibitions, site‑specific commissions and institutional partnerships. Milan Design Week, as an intersection of architecture, product design and critical discourse, offers a natural stage for Sanlorenzo to position yachting within a wider creative conversation.

What the project reveals about Sanlorenzo

• UN_Material directly references SHE, the 2025 concept that blends Sanlorenzo’s heritage with contemporary technology, turning that concept into an architectural exploration of space and perception.
• The installation emphasises craft, materiality and light — recurring themes for a yard that has long collaborated with leading designers such as Piero Lissoni, Patricia Urquiola and Zuccon International Project.
• Sanlorenzo is framing its design-led identity alongside ongoing technical and environmental innovation — a strategy reflected in its Road to 2030 commitments and recent milestones in low‑impact propulsion and hydrogen experimentation.

Industry context — why this matters

At a moment when luxury yacht builders seek to differentiate through narrative, collaboration and sustainability, Sanlorenzo’s intervention in Milan Design Week translates nautical expertise into cultural capital. The installation reframes the yacht not only as an engineering achievement but as an architectural and experiential object, reinforcing the firm’s identity as a mono‑brand leader for vessels over 24 metres and as a patron of design discourse.

Sanlorenzo’s recent trajectory — from the launch of the SHE concept and the 74Steel flagship to technological firsts such as onboard fuel cells and hydrogen‑powered tenders — pairs product innovation with a deliberate cultural programme. UN_Material underlines how design events can amplify those ambitions, connecting shipbuilding, sustainable innovation and contemporary design audiences.

Key highlights

• Project: UN_Material — installation by Piero Lissoni for Sanlorenzo
• When and where: 20–30 April 2026, Cortile del ’700, Università degli Studi di Milano (INTERNI MATERIAE)
• Concept: full‑scale cross‑sections and semi‑transparent materials that dematerialise the SHE yacht into an architectural experience
• Significance: part of Sanlorenzo Arts’ tenth‑anniversary programme and a marker of the brand’s evolving cultural expression
• Broader context: aligns with Sanlorenzo’s Road to 2030 and recent technical milestones (fuel cell integration, hydrogen tenders, the 74Steel flagship)

Further details about UN_Material will be unveiled during Milan Design Week. For Sanlorenzo, the installation is both a material experiment and a strategic statement — an attempt to translate a shipyard’s expertise into a form of cultural dialogue that extends beyond the quay.

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