Cantieri di Pisa appoints Antonio Luxardo as chief designer

Antonio Luxardo is the new chief designer at Cantieri di Pisa and together with Optima Design, founded by himself and Michele Zignego in 2004, he will also be in charge of the engineering of the new projects. Thanks to these partnerships, the Shipyard founded in 1945 and now owned by Enrico Gennasio will be launching three new yacht ranges in the coming months.

Antonio Luxardo is the new chief designer at Cantieri di Pisa. Born in 1968, Luxardo has a degree in architecture from the University of Genoa. In 2004, with Michele Zignego, he founded Optima Design, the La Spezia-based firm that will be providing engineering for all the new projects at Cantieri di Pisa.

The Shipyard’s new chief designer has already worked with many major Italian yards, including Amer, Baglietto, Benetti, CRN, Italian Sea Group, Perini Navi and Sanlorenzo, and on a wide range of vessel types in terms of size, design, use and materials. He has also worked on cruise ships and designed tourism and port infrastructure projects. Moreover, Luxardo's architectural experience includes residential buildings and product design.

With Optima Design, which employs a team of 30 professionals from the yachting, industrial design, automotive and strategic communication sectors, Luxardo has worked on over 400 projects, handling every aspect of the boats’ creation, from concept to construction.

“Cantieri di Pisa is a brand that has made history in the Italian yachting industry from the post-war period to the present day, profoundly changing and innovating the sector, therefore our starting point is respecting the brand’s DNA so that the new yachts are immediately recognisable,” commented Antonio Luxardo, who added: “The new yacht lines that will soon be launched combine the style features and refined lines of Cantieri di Pisa yachts with the latest design and technology innovations developed by today’s yachting industry.”