Yacht Design at Politecnico di Milano. Origin, Development, and Future of the Research and Training Area in Yacht Design

The discipline of Yacht Design has deep roots embedded in the Italian tradition. At Politecnico di Milano it first founds fertile ground to evolve into a structured field of education and research. Starting from the 1990s, driven by a rapidly growing market and the vision and passion of some professors and researchers, Politecnico initiated the first courses dedicated to nautical design. These courses blended architectural and engineering skills with the specific requirements of boat design, leading to the creation of excellent educational programs, preparing new generations of yacht designers while stimulating interdisciplinary research. The present narrative reconstructs – through documents and testimonies – the steps that led from the initial ideas on how to structure a research and educational field in the yachting industry, to thedevelopment of various educational programs, research initiatives, and practical and sports activities in the area of Yacht Design. This process was long and complex, involving theoretical reflections and bureaucratic steps. It necessitated interdisciplinary relationships both within and outside Politecnico context. To bring order to this journey, the narrative is divided into three sections to present, in chronological order, a common history intertwining actions, themes, and people. The first section, The Origins, narrated through the memories of Silvia Piardi, gathers institutional teaching experiences from the first theses at the Faculty of Architecture to the three-year Nautical Design program at the School of Design, from the Interuniversity Master’s Degree in Naval and Nautical Design to the current final synthesis workshops. The second section, Research and Development, edited by Andrea Ratti, retraces the mature phase of post-graduate training initiatives, emblematic research at the Smart Lab research laboratory in Lecco, and experimentation opportunities through student competitions. Finally, the third section, Evolutions and Future, curated by Arianna Bionda, looks at ongoing research in the fields of digital tech- nologies and sustainability, starting from doctoral research topics to national and international research projects.