Ave Maria

2011
venezia – mantova

Ave Maria is a river cruise especially designed to land along the Fissero-Bianco canal banks, following Po and Mincio rivers with a parallel course and re-discovering some beautiful and untouched rural zone in north Italy.

natural canal, fisher mans houses, boats-made bridges

The project is calibrated on specific needing of the route, the height of the landing places and the territorial distinctive feature of the track, where reclaimed marsh lands are interchanged to natural canal, fisher mans houses are camouflaged by the cane thicket, boats-made bridges cover the gap between sand strips.

local handcrafts and a well-establish mastery in river ship construction

Ave Maria is part of a small cruises fleet which associate navigation with cycle pats (a cycle parking is located on the first deck of the cruise), promoting a new way to enjoy the territory and an ecological conscious tourism.
The architectural project has also been designed looking to a territory valorisation plan: choosing one of the few left shipyard in the Mantua zone we catch the opportunity to avail of local handcrafts and a well-establish mastery in river ship construction.
All services, rooms, fixed furniture components have been assembled off-site and fitted on the structure at a later stage.
Prefabrication process aim to combine industrial technologies and artisanal skills to obtain both high quality and efficiency as well as a good working-time coordination.

a design focused to the client’s well-being

The interior design is made as a compromise between the maximum cabins comfort and the tight spaces of the ship.

The result is not even to impose board conditions to the passengers but to transform the ship in a little, comfortable, floating hotel.
The cabins, designed to be practical and independent, are located below deck and on the main deck; a large common room and the restaurant take up almost all of the main deck and overlook the exterior with wide openings which permit to enjoy the view.

A pleasant stay can be enjoyed on the upper deck, the higher one, where sunlight is screened by a moving curtain.