Milan-based Studio Ibsen has used the Peruvian Amazon's artistic heritage to inform the interiors of a luxury riverboat that explores the region's waters.
The Pure Amazon is part of travel operator Abercrombie & Kent's A&K Sanctuary collection of highly curated safari and riverboat experiences.
The newly launched vessel's itineraries focus around the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve, a five-million-acre protected area of northeast Peru where the Marañón and Ucayali rivers converge to form the mighty Amazon.
Sailings typically span four nights, during which the boat docks in multiple locations so that guests can experience a variety of guided excursions and activities – mostly via small skiff boats.
For the main boat's interiors, Studio Ibsen founder Adriana Granato looked to both traditional Amazonian craft and contemporary Peruvian art for influences.
"While you're on the boat, I want you to feel like you're in a natural environment, though one that necessarily contrasts strongly with the wildness of the natural environment outside," said Granato.
The vessel has 12 guest suites lined up along either side of the central deck, each with panoramic windows that offer views out to the passing tropical landscape.
Furniture made from locally sourced mahogany, ceiling panels woven from dried grass, and green accents in upholstery and bathroom tiles all connect to the surrounding rainforest environment.
Displayed throughout the interior are works by Peruvian contemporary artist Silvana Pestana, which explore the impact of illegal gold mining in the Amazon through materials including gold leaf, bronze and traditional textiles.
Meanwhile, a wall-mounted installation titled Manto de Escamas de Paiche comprises triangular bronze and clay tiles that resemble the scales of giant paiche fish that inhabit the river.
These tiles decorate the bright and airy dining room on the lower deck, where buffet breakfasts and lunches are served, as well as five-course evening meals that use local cuisine and wine pairings.
At the opposite end, a cozy bar and lounge with pale green carpet and walls, and a ceiling clad in feathery adornments, also provides a space for nightly briefings and daily educational sessions.
The top deck houses a small gym and a spa treatment room, plus another large bar furnished with woven chairs and pillows covered with colourful, geometric kené textiles created by Deysi Ramírez and the Beneai collective of indigenous women artists.
Peruvian travertine and Amazonian quartzite are applied as surface treatments for flooring and bathroom counters. "I think of the materials themselves as works of art – site-specific works of art," Granato said.
The upper bow deck also has lounge seating and a hot tub in which guests can unwind after a long day of wildlife spotting, piranha fishing, kayaking, exploring local villages and other excursions offered by the team.
Pure Amazon launches from the city of Iquitos, where a small building lined with reeds, sticks, grass and various woods provides a check-in area and introduces guests to their experience.
The combinations of local artwork, materials and crafts provides a contextually appropriate and immersive setting in which this adventure unfolds.
"This thoughtful curation transforms Pure Amazon into Peru's first luxury riverboat to function as a genuine floating gallery, where every journey becomes an immersion in living Amazonian culture," said the A&K team.
In recent years, cruises have once again become a popular way to visit remote natural and archeological sites, and the interiors of new vessels are increasingly drawing upon their destinations.
For example, a ship that sails around the Galápagos Islands takes design cues from reptiles.
The photography is courtesy of Abercrombie & Kent.