My dear friend and designer Rodolfo Dordoni has just passed away.

I was particularly close to him because, when I moved from Castell’Arquato to Tellaro back in 2006, after working for Driade for twenty years, and I started working as a Style Director at the Sanlorenzo shipyards that Massimo Perotti had just acquired, the first designer I ever recommended to revolutionize boating interior design was precisely Rodolfo Dordoni.

I had known him for years thanks to Enrico Astori, founder of Driade, who called him on multiple occasions to design his wonderful collection. And I would meet Rodolfo to fine-tune his projects and prototype them.

My choice of recommending Rodolfo was not accidental. I had found in him the right ambassador for the simple and tailored interiors that had always characterized the brand ever since its establishment in 1958. Massimo Perotti foresaw the value of interior renderings of the new SL100, which we presented at the Genoa International Boat Show in 2009 with a press conference at which editors from the most authoritative design and architecture magazines flocked.

Among the many great articles that were published, I recall a piece by Stefano Casciano for Domus entitled Moderate Luxury. That 32-meter-long yacht was truly an unusual operation for those years. It was full of great contemporary design but also of vintage pieces and even unusual textural details. It also had a very peculiar layout that privileged the main deck with a huge living area, while the lower deck accommodated the full-beam master cabin and a bathroom with a view.

The yacht also had memorable site-specific abstract art pieces by the Milanese painter Gianfranco Pardi. Rodolfo had suggested him, and he was also very appreciated by Astori, who had one of his works in his office. Unfortunately, he too has been gone for several years.

Rodolfo Dordoni had a taste of rare sobriety that immediately charmed our public of ship owners, who don’t usually appreciate showing off. The yacht and his Dordoni won the Quirinale design and innovation award, received in Rome directly from the Head of State Giorgio Napolitano.

And this understatedly charming yacht was sold immediately to a new Austrian client who was particularly impressed by the beauty of the project. Years later, the client came back to buy another, bigger yacht, but still with the same Dordonian style. Amazingly, Rodolfo had never been called by any other shipyard before us. This was his first job in the boating field. His refined touch launched Sanlorenzo.

Other famous designers after him also contributed to Sanlorenzo success, designers I knew well thanks once again to the twenty years I spent as technical director at Dride. But everything started Rodolfo Dordoni

Sergio Buttiglieri 
Style Director at Sanlorenzo