Thank God It's Friday

Some might call it the holy grail of every aspiring designer. Fact is, there is something special about car styling, because it combines in a unique way interior and exterior and it operates within tight technical parameters. It's bigger than the usual 'product' or piece of furniture, so you have to walk around or step back to appreciate it from the outside, but it's not as big as a house or a yacht which in reality hardly ever appears as a whole object but rather a collection of details. It has static qualities as well as the obvious dimension of motion.
Fact also is, the coquine![design] was originally born out of the designer's fascination for the automobile. Fast forward a couple of years and combine it with the field coquine![design] operates these days; in other words, mix yachts and cars and you'll find FRIDAY.
The FRIDAY concept is particularly geared towards the needs and desires of yacht people, both in terms of styling as well as the technical concept. And then of course there is the exclusivity of a very limited production.
Upon request, coquine![design] can deliver a draft business plan, a full concept and a preliminary specification for potential investors / manufacturers.
We are happy to present FRIDAY to people who are equally passionate about being involved in a really exciting project, willing to join us to make FRIDAY come true.

Achievements & Frustration

Given the possibility that somebody has read that post about the Suzuki LJ80 ('getting one's hands dirty') we believe it is our duty to report occasionally about the actual progress. Some say this would not be a wise thing to do, as it would look like our principle designer has gone mad...

"Truth is, however, that it's the satisfaction that comes with picking up a few rusty bits and pieces once per week and hold them in your hands a few hours later, all clean and shiny and better than new, it's what keeps me sane!"

We at coquine![design] believe that this might be a slight exaggeration, we believe that the designers do have all the fun working on all those amazing and exciting projects! Like Karl Lagerfeld said: " If you love your job, you don't need holidays".

And then of course Christian speaks about the frustration of the slow progress, about new difficulties appearing when one thinks all is already accounted for. It's all good and well to call that 'challenges', but who wants to sail upwind all the time?

Well, this just proves the designer's philosophy that design isn't just a job, it's a state of mind. It's not something you can leave on your desk for the next day. Design lives with you. So it's not surprising that creative people have hobbies that look disturbingly similar to their work...

Let's just hope that Christian makes good progress soon. First of all, we want to see that Suzuki finished. And second, we just like to see Christian smiling.

Proud To Be A Part Of It

Name: Siren. Length: 74 metres. Builder: Nobiskrug shipyard in Rendsburg, Germany. Design: newcruise Yacht Projects & Design. Hamburg. Germany.

"Exterior design? Mostly me." Christian Leyk, who worked together with newcruise for over 5 years, is clearly proud of the result when he saw her finished at the Monaco Yacht Show 2009. " There was of course a feeling of nostalgia, too. I parted with newcruise in Summer 2007, so Siren wasn't 'my baby' anymore. The exterior was already finished at that time, so all there was to see looked fairly familiar to me. Although of course every project of such size is in the end a result of a dialogue between many professionals and the client, I was fighting for every line, every curve. I'm glad for it, because she turned out exactly as I envisioned. Actually, even better. You do take a gamble when you deviate from the tried&tested path and introduce new elements, new shapes. It might look good on paper, but will it hold in real size?
But, what really left me breathless was the interior. If you see Siren in the magazines, you might find her very zen, but more likely just a tad bland. The photos don't do her justice, and I have to express my deepest respect to Katharina Raczek, junior partner and interior designer at newcruise. She made Siren what it is, a wonderful interior experience with a level of attention to details that I've never seen before!"
At this place we congratulate the team of newcruise Yacht Projects & Design and of course the owners of Siren for winning the Superyacht Award 2009. It was well deserved.

more photos
more photos

The Tigress

"I have a thing with patterns!" Christian Leyk of coquine![design] admits. "I'm not talking about blue and white strips or the obvious leopard print. I like subtle ones. That can include the odd animal as well, like zebra or tiger, but the trick is to keep the contrast low. It can be the difference between clear and bead blasted glass. Or matt versus polished metal."
In this case the designer experimented with tinted glass inserts to add life to the high gloss hull of the 50 metre open concept 'Tigress'. The idea was that the pattern would only appear from certain angles at certain light. It would, in parts, also appear at night, when some of the inserts out themselves as portholes.
This way, the hull would appear almost as a solid entity (as opposed to a hull perforated with portholes), but it would be far from being boring. "It could have been just stripes of course, but then we thought, why not try something really new? This yacht is supposed to be a different animal!"
The rest of the design followed swiftly, an almost monolithic deckhouse and a shiny metal structure for radar, antennas and navigation lights. Does it need more than that?
The interior has not been developed further than initial sketches, but it will certainly be very much in line with the exterior. Clues have been taken from automotive design, so we might expect a cool mix of leather and carbon fibre and we might even get a glimps of the engine. And the performance? let's just say it's not a coincident that part of the styling was inspired by the Lamborghini Gallardo...

Is Architecture Cold? (Part 2)

 Too much theory can be such a curse. Originally the post about architecture was supposed to introduce another coquine![design] project called 'Ice Fairy'. Which would imply that indeed the inspiration taken from contemporary architecture would turn a yacht into a snow queen. Worse even, when the designer envisions polished aluminium, naked concrete and the unavoidable stretch of glass being the main theme for the interior...

But one thought at a time: The exterior of this mid size motor yacht (actually, the design would work nicely anywhere between 55 and 88 metres) was clearly inspired by the works of spanish star architect Santiago Calatrava. The general idea was to find a shape that allowed us to break with the traditional 'layer cake', dictated by the need to create decks to define living spaces. Obviously, we cannot avoid floors and we cannot avoid ceilings as a result of the next floor up. Raising those ceilings in order to gain more 'living volume' usually has a rather unflattering effect on the exterior, so we had to find something different.

The deckhouse structure of 'Ice Fairy' allowed us to rethink interior volumes, giving it a new vertical dimension. The exposed metal backbone makes the glass surfaces much more managable and therefore allows a level of light flooding the interior that hasn't been seen before.

We then went on to maximise the impact this new approach would have on the interior, as it seemed wrong to come up with something so different on the outside while doing 'same old' on the inside. And in the end, with a bit of wood and leather in the right places, concrete can be quite cozy actually!

The Tomahawk - Speed Is Sexy

Yachting, re-defined: The Concept of the Tomahawk-128

8 o’ clock, somewhere in the Mediterranean. Sunshine reflecting on the water and the invigorating scent of the sea. A good shower and you’re ready for action. And while you enjoyed your breakfast, your captain had been warming up the engines. It’s time to go...
By lunchtime you’ll reach Saint Tropez. But now, you’re in control of 2 awesome gas turbines and one of the most thrilling machines one can think of. A 128ft racing catamaran, basically. You focus on the direction, your captain is your throttleman today and the sea flies by at almost 70 knots. Most certainly, the Tomahawk-128 is not everybody’s boat. It takes style and vision to own her and it takes a strong will to push her to the limit.

The Tomahawk-128 concept should be seen as an alternative to the traditional open powerboat based on those re-defined priorities of those who are more demanding than the rest of us. Choosing a lightweight catamaran hull very similar to to the offshore racing boats, using asymmetrical hulls, vertical tunnel walls and a deep V certainly ensures high top speeds, but it also allows for fast cruising. In combination with a modern surface drive system fuel efficiency is excellent, thus enabling the boat to cover long distances in less time without the need of carrying large amounts of fuel. As the boat uses the air cushion between the hulls for planing, its bow sections are designed to cut the water more gently, making the Tomahawk-128 a surprisingly comfortable yacht at low speeds. Needless to say, with a draught of just 1.1 meter, shallow bays look much more inviting...

Is Architecture Really Cold?

Obviously, this is not really a serious question. Sometimes we actually do think so, because of the use of all that glass, steel and concrete. And actually, we do find those clod cathedrals of modern architecture strangely attractive. We do like those breathtaking staircases that float freely, defying all gravity, in the middle of a large and otherwise empty concrete hall. And we love the way the sun falls in through those skylights high above, bathing the bare walls in an almost surreal light.

We hardly ever ask ourselves if we actually would like to live in such a place. Maybe we don't because it's so far out of our budget that we don't need to think about it. We can lean back and just admire the purity of the design. Our own places will never look as good, because we live there. But how about, just for the moment, we try to imagine how it would be if we could move in?

Would we give that stunning out-of-this-world residence overlooking the sea (including a private beach and a drive way long enough so we won't even see the neighbours) our own touch, filling it up not with expensive artwork but with bits and pieces that we accumulated over the years?

Or would be leave it empty, store all our belongings in the garage and walk through our new home as if it would be a museum?

'My personal art collection includes a print of Snoopy & Woodstock, a print of a german artist called Janusch, who's pictures are popular for children (it's a smiling frog) and even a Mordillo puzzle. But all these pieces are telling a story about who I am, so I would not change them for a Damien Hurst, even if I would get paid for it!'