Yacht, by Foster

For the city-country Monaco Foster + Partners has designed a yacht club that features a nautical iconography, to be more precise – that of a luxury yacht. The stepped decks, aerodynamic perimeter, fully glazed facades, and – off course – flags on the back.The building is mainly used as a stage, simultaneously for yacht-races at the seaside and the famous F1 Grand-Prix at the roadside. The decks are further programmed from the lower level upwards with shops, a rowing club and sailing school, then a clubroom, bar and restaurant, further up a ballroom, and to finish an apartment for the club secretary together with a series of cabins for visiting guests.The iconography and function of the building is similar to the stacked-decks-pavilion that David Chipperfield designed for the America Cup, in the city of Valencia.Platinum, the world’s largest yacht, here in DubaiIronically the Yacht Club looks more like the traditional yacht, than the new yacht that Foster + Partnershas designed for YachtPlus, a company founded by some rich guys from the city of London that aims to provide a shared ownership of fully staffed and serviced yachts around the world. The Foster-designed yacht uses the bubble-design that Norman applies to all his buildings, eliminating a sun deck on the front of the boat, in favor of a very spacious interior.