Jon Bannenberg, RDI (1929 – 26 May 2002) was an Australian-English

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

designer.

Biography

Bannenberg was born in Sydney, Australia, and educated at Canterbury Boys High School and later at the

Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the ol ...

. In the early 1950s, he moved to London, by way of New Zealand and the

Pitcairn Islands The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four i ...

, during which time he worked briefly for Ngaio Marsh's theatre company. From initially earning a living by playing the piano in bars and clubs (he was briefly

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combina ...

's rehearsal pianist), he developed an interest in design, establishing the fledgling Marble & Lemon decorative arts business in Cheval Place, Knightsbridge. This led to a partnership with the long-established New Bond Street dealer—Partridge Fine Arts—which began in 1957 and lasted well into the next decade. Bannenberg created the setting for the 3rd International Art Treasures exhibitions at the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in 1962—the design of which was described by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'' on 2 March 1962 as "well adapted to facilitate appreciation by the planning of its series of compartments". His profile continued to rise and, in 1965, he was selected by Cunard as one of the interior designers for their new liner—known initially as Q4, but later to be the ''

Queen Elizabeth 2 ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' (''QE2'') is a retired British ocean liner converted into a floating hotel. Originally built for the Cunard Line, the ship, named as the second ship named ''Queen Elizabeth'', was operated by Cunard as both a transatlanti ...

''—under construction at the John Brown Shipyard in Glasgow. Bannenberg was allocated to design the Double Room, the Card Room, and some of the First Class suites. His first yacht commission was the sailing yacht ''Tiawana'', built by the

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in Southampton and delivered in 1968. Shortly thereafter, he was commissioned to design a large motor yacht, ''Carinthia V'', by German retail magnate Helmut Horten. She was shortly followed by the almost identical ''Carinthia VI'', described as an icon of 20th century yacht design. In a career, which was to extend a further thirty years, Bannenberg designed almost two hundred yacht projects, as well as working on residential projects, aircraft interiors, car interiors, furniture design and hotels. His clients included

Larry Ellison Lawrence Joseph Ellison (born August 17, 1944) is an American business magnate and investor who is the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer (CTO) and former chief executive officer (CEO) of the American computer technology ...

Malcolm Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes (August 19, 1919 – February 24, 1990) was an American entrepreneur most prominently known as the publisher of ''Forbes'' magazine, founded by his father B. C. Forbes. He was known as an avid promoter of capitalis ...

, Alan Bond, Bennett S. LeBow, Adnan Khashoggi, and

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from ...

Bannenberg would design both the exterior and interior of all his yacht projects. Once referred to as a 'stylist' by ''Yachting Magazine'', he was quick to write to the editor in trenchant terms: "Either one is a designer or not. The word 'stylist' to me conjures up some kind of flimsy tweaking of a structure, whereas quite the opposite is true, at least in our own case. Could you do me a great personal favour, either when compiling a new directory or when mentioning my name (should you ever do so after receiving this letter) and refer to me as what I am: a designer—perhaps a nitpicking, irritating one, but nevertheless not a stylist. That is a title I gratefully concede to Vidal Sassoon." He likened himself to the conductor of an orchestra: someone who could not play all the instruments, but knew exactly the sound they should all be producing. Bannenberg worked with shipyards in the Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany and England. He rekindled the connection with the country of his birth with a collaboration with the Oceanfast yard in Perth, Australia. On two separate occasions he produced designs for a successor to HMY ''Britannia''.

Recognition

He was appointed a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) in 1978, the first yacht designer to be so honoured since

Charles E. Nicholson Charles Ernest Nicholson (12 May 1868 – 26 February 1954) was a British yacht designer. Biography He was born in 1868, one of four sons and six daughters of Benjamin Nicholson (1828-1906), also a yacht designer, and the original Nicholson of ...

in 1934.

Death

Bannenberg died of an inoperable Brain tumour at his home in London on 26 May 2002.

Legacy

Bannenberg & Rowell Design continues to design yachts, under the direction of Jon's son Dickie Bannenberg and Creative Director Simon Rowell. Jon's son Cam Bannenberg is a sustainable investor, primarily in the food and travel sectors, through investment compan
Bannenberg Invests

References

;Footnotes ;Sources ''Jon Bannenberg: A Life of Design'' (Julian Calder Publishing, 2015. Author: Dickie Bannenberg)

External links

Memorial article at powerandmotoryacht.comBannenberg & Rowell Design
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bannenberg, Jon Australian industrial designers British yacht designers Deaths from brain cancer in England 1929 births 2002 deaths Sydney Conservatorium of Music alumni Australian expatriates in New Zealand Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom Expatriates in the Pitcairn Islands