The award ceremony for the seventh edition of the MUVE Yacht Projects Academy Lab took place yesterday at the Arsenale during the 2026 Venice Boat Show. The initiative, promoted by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia and the Municipality of Venice, is dedicated to research and innovation in the field of contemporary yacht design, and this year was also held under the patronage of ADI – the Italian Association for Industrial Design.
The Scientific Committee overseeing the selection of the projects has been led since the first edition of the Award by Carlo Nuvolari, co-founder together with Dan Lenard of Nuvolari Lenard srl, who contributed to the creation of the initiative, reflecting the Studio’s ongoing commitment to supporting and encouraging new generations of designers. The 2026 jury, led by Carlo Nuvolari, included Mariacristina Gribaudi, President of Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, Giorgio Mattei, Deputy Chairman of Next Yacht Group, and Franco Michienzi, Director of the magazines Barche and Vela e Motore.
The ceremony, hosted at the Torre di Porta Nuova within Venice’s historic Arsenale, celebrated the best studies and projects selected as part of the call dedicated to sustainable navigation.
Now in its seventh edition, the MUVE Yacht Projects Academy Lab represents the most up-to-date showcase of yacht and naval design developed by Italian universities, with a particular focus on maritime culture, the integration of design and engineering, and new sustainability-driven scenarios applied to naval design.
The initiative involves Italian leading universities, including Politecnico di Milano, Università degli Studi di Genova, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Università degli Studi Trieste, Politecnico di Torino.
Nuvolari Lenard reaffirms its commitment to education and training by promoting direct dialogue between industry, universities, and new generations of designers and naval architects. During the award ceremony, Eng. Carlo Nuvolari emphasized the importance of creating concrete connections between study groups with different specializations, encouraging interdisciplinarity, particularly between the worlds of engineering, design, and architecture.
“With MUVE Yacht Projects Academy Lab, Venice further strengthens its position as an international reference point for contemporary maritime culture and for supporting the new generations of designers called upon to imagine the future of navigation”, concluded Carlo Nuvolari.
MUVE Yacht Projects represents a meeting point between education, research, and entrepreneurship – between vision and implementation. It is a unique platform for dialogue, where Italian nautical heritage engages with the opportunities of the future, navigating towards a more sustainable tomorrow.
The MUVE Yacht Projects Academy Lab projects are on display in the Foundation’s dedicated exhibition space at the Arsenale (Tesa 99) until May 31.
