Times Square is no stranger to a pop-up installation: This year alone we’ve seen a giant carousel, a tiny home, and even a series of surprise proposals. But we’ve never witnessed a megayacht smack-bang in the middle of the city’s busiest intersection. Today, one of the world’s leading yacht builders changed all that.
In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Azimut-Benetti has plonked a 60-foot vessel in the heart of Times Square Plaza, which will be on view to public from June 6 to 11.
At first the glance, the sleek Azimut S6 might look just slightly out of place, juxtaposed against the city concrete and light spectacle of 43rd and 44th streets, but the installation makes perfect sense when you consider Azimut-Benetti’s heritage. The brand is renowned for its unorthodox yet stylish vessels—so the flashing neon lights and pulsating crowds surrounding the installation are right at home with Azimut’s ethos: to be responsive to modern culture, at the forefront of technological innovation and to deliver disruptive design.
The 60-foot Azimut yacht in Times Square. Sam Gutierrez
Established in 1969 by Paolo Vitelli, the group brings together two successful brands Azimut Yachts and Benetti, each of which serves a different market segment while achieving excellence. Case in point: Robb Report‘s Best of the Best 2019, where the Benetti Spectre was crowned the Best Motor Yacht 200 to 300 Feet while the Azimut Grande 25 Metri received the title of the Best Motor Yacht Under 100 Feet. We’ve become accustomed to seeing the Italian builder deliver unconventional vessels and now we get to see one in an unconventional setting—at the Crossroads of the World.
The event is an extension of Design Pavillion—New York’s annual public commemoration of design—and will also feature public education activities with One Ocean Foundation, an organization which develops projects to safeguard marine life and protect the ocean. It will also mark the launch of Azimut-Benetti’s Can You See/Sea the Future, a student design competition organized with Arts Thread.
Below, watch the S6 as it moves through the streets of New York en route to Times Square:
