Luxury lifestyle ocean travel brand Explora Journeys, in partnership with leading digital design platform Archiproducts, is delighted to present the interior design installation ‘AQUA’, curated by Studiopepe, at Milan Design Week 2024.
Visitors coming to experience the installation at Archiproducts showroom, on Via Tortona 31, Milan, will find themselves on the imaginary deck of EXPLORA II, furnished with the bespoke sofas of the new Davos collection by renowned Italian manufacturer Unopiù. This bespoke creation from leading interior designer Matteo Nunziati will bring distinctive style to the second of Explora Journeys’ fleet of six luxury ships, EXPLORA II, due to embark on her Maiden Journey on 11 August 2024 from Barcelona, Spain.
The Davos collection: a triumph of modular design
A celebration of flexible modular design, the Davos collection is named after the small town in Switzerland whose architecture inspired the furniture’s striking right-angled shape. Sofas, chaises longues, armchairs and coffee tables are all engineered around a lightweight, aluminium structure.
There were two considerations at the heart of my concept for the Davos collection,” says designer Matteo Nunziati. “Firstly, functionality: the design had to provide practical solutions such as versatility and flexibility, as well as cater to the everyday needs that make life enjoyable. And then there’s the more existential dimension of what makes people happy. The answer, of course, is pleasure. So, the Davos furniture needed to be beautiful as well as deliver on comfort and durability.”
Reflecting the trend for fluid spaces that flow seamlessly from indoors to outdoors, the plush, ultra-comfortable upholstery is as stunning indoors as it will look outdoors at the extraordinary Helios Pool on board EXPLORA II. The organic feel, together with a customised colour palette in Explora Journeys’ signature shade of blue, evokes ocean waves, far horizons, azure skies, and the fluidity of existence. Perfect for relaxing in the quiet luxury of the adults-only pool, contemplating a sublime sunset.
The immersive experience continues inside AQUA. Visitors are invited to explore the dynamic nature of water on a sensory journey through a space characterised by curves and soft materials. To represent the optics created by the way light is chromatically filtered by the ocean, AQUA’s ambient lighting changes from airy aqua-green and pale blue, to thrilling ultramarine and electric blue, to deep blue and violet. The effect is designed to mirror the calming and restorative tranquillity of Explora Journeys’ ship interiors. Urban noise fades away as guests find themselves at one with the rhythm of the ocean, deeply at peace.
On board EXPLORA II
“EXPLORA II will uphold the same exemplary standards of elegance and sophistication demonstrated by our first ship, EXPLORA I,” says Antonio di Nenno, Explora Journeys Director, Architecture & Design. “Creating a completely new lifestyle ocean travel brand means redefining luxury at sea in a subtle, intuitive way. Every aspect of the design of our ships has a common purpose: to make guests feel as though they are at home. This is relaxed luxury, where each architectural detail is characterised by the same refined simplicity that defines Explora Journeys’ instinctive, thoughtful service.”
Guests will experience the soothing ‘Ocean State of Mind’ first-hand from Summer 2024 as EXPLORA II sets off on her Maiden Journey. The 8-night inaugural sailing begins on 11 August 2024 in the Spanish port of Barcelona, taking in Ibiza, Marseille, Genoa, Portofino, Monte Carlo and Porto Santo Stefano, culminating at the picturesque Italian port of Civitavecchia.