Andrea Vallicelli Yacht Design
Andrea Vallicelli is a Roman architect and Italy's preeminent yacht designer, renowned for designing the Azzurra series that marked Italy's first America's Cup challenge. A professor of industrial design, his 40-year career encompasses racing yachts, school vessels, and collaborations with Philippe Starck.
Italy's America's Cup Pioneer
Andrea Vallicelli, born in Rome in 1951, stands as one of Italy's most significant yacht designers, combining architectural training with pioneering nautical design. He made history as the designer of Azzurra, the first Italian yacht to challenge for the America's Cup, launching Italy's enduring passion for Cup competition. The Azzurra series included Azzurra I (1982), Azzurra II (1985), and Azzurra III (1986), establishing Vallicelli's reputation in international sailing.
Academic and Professional Distinction
Vallicelli was the first in Italy to direct a university course in Boating Industrial Design, teaching at prestigious institutions including Università di Palermo, Roma-La Sapienza, Florence, Politecnico di Milano, and Chieti-Pescara, where he continues to teach Design 2. His expertise encompasses advanced materials and ergonomics of minimal spaces, applied across racing yachts, cruising vessels, and school ships. For the Italian Navy, he designed the training vessel Orsa Maggiore (1994) .
Published Legacy
In 2020, Skira Editore published Vallicelli, a 272-page monograph co-authored with Valerio Paolo Mosco, documenting forty years of Vallicelli's career. The book features previously unpublished drawings tracing design evolution from pencil sketches to software, revealing how yacht design constantly intermingles innovation with intuition of the past . Among his diverse collaborations, Vallicelli worked with Philippe Starck on the Tencara yacht Virtuelle, launched in 2000.
