THE GREAT KNOWLEDGE QUIZ - Duropal

CrEatiVitY
The Dreamboat
SIEGFRIED SCHINDLER AND KAI BUNGE WITH THEIR TEAM AT PARTNER SHIP DESIGN PLAN THE AIDA CLUB-SHIPS
AND HAVE DUROPAL ON BOARD WITH THEM
It all begins with a blank sheet of white paper. When Siegfried Schindler and Kai Bunge have completed their
work, the sheet stands for the fulfilment of the dreams of thousands of holidaymakers. Schindler and Bunge are
the proprietors of Partner Ship Design and are considered as ‘the specialists’ for the planning of cruise ships.
The idea of the AIDA Club Ships was born in their office in the Warburgstraße in Hamburg at the beginning of the
1990s. This was the moment at which two extraordinary success models came together.
on the one side, the concept ‘aida’:
anyone who has ever wanted to
travel on a ship knows the red mouth
on the bow, and the yellow eye at
the end of the snaking blue line
on the side of the aida ships. the
club holiday on all the seas of the
world, combined with all conceiv-
able amenities and entertainment
facilities, has over the years developed
a steadily growing fan culture.
almost every cruise — whether in the
Caribbean, Mediterranean or to the
North Cape — is fully booked. a considerable
number of people spend
every single holiday on the aida,
meeting up specially on internet
forums with others who travel fre-
50 _ HPL World
quently with aida. and every time
that this community puts to sea,
there are also duropal high-pressure
laminates on board.
on the other side, Partner Ship
design, or PSd for short: this planning
office for cruise ships was
founded in 1991 by
Siegfried Schindler
and Kai Bunge. as
mentioned at the
beginning, PSd as
the joint initiator
took over the planning
of the first
aida Club Ships —
and following this
successful project
was also the very
first choice when it
came to the planning
of the second aida generation,
which had two objectives above
all: to be even larger and even more
entertaining. the number of berths
was increased from 1,300 to over
2,000. this was accompanied by the
increase in the choice of restaurants
from three to seven. the wellness
and fitness area alone on one of
the new aida Club Ships measures
2,300 m² – and located high above
the bridge offers outstanding views
of the different seascapes. the aidadiva,
the aidabella and the aidaluna
have already gone into service,
while the aidablu will be setting
to sea from 2010. Each of the ships
has its own individual colour and
design scheme — ably supported by
selected duropal décors such as
olive or Zebrano.
Schindler and Bunge together
boast over 50 years of experience in
ship-fitting. this experience lead
amongst other things to shipping
lines like aida Cruises putting the
planning for the concept and the
complete design in the hands of PSd.
Elsewhere, the shipyard handles the
construction of the ship, before the
planners, architects and designers
move in. “and this is exactly where
the problem lies”, explains Bunge.
“a ship like this is like a living organism,
whose public areas flow
and merge into each other, and
should therefore create a harmonious
whole. too many cooks spoil
the broth.”