Tropicana Magazine Jul-Aug 2017 #114: Bold & Beautiful

THE HOME
All Who Wanders Are Not Lost
Dutch, dashing and very, very daring, Marcel
Wanders is a man of grand statements and
has this to say about being boring: “There’s
enough of that in life as it is. I’m interested
in designing things that will excite people
and make them feel alive.” Indeed alive,
unsettled and at least a little amused is the
typical reaction to Wanders’ outré oeuvre.
Wanders grew up in Boxtel, the Netherlands,
graduated cum laude from the School of the
Arts Arnhem in 1988 and shot to fame with his
now iconic Knotted Chair produced for Droog
Design in 1996. Since then, the provocative
and philosophical Dutch designer has created
home furnishings and accessories for dozens
of international firms, completed fantastical
hotel and retail interiors around the world. In
parallel to his studio, he is the owner and art
director of Moooi, whose groundbreaking yet
edgy products have made the brand a darling
of the design cognoscenti. His hospitality
projects like IBEROSTAR Grand Hotel Portals
Nous (Spain), Mira Moon (Hong Kong),
Mondrian DOHA, Mondrian South Beach,
Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht among
others, manage to marry functionality with
surprise, wit and boldness. Although at his
essence, Wanders is more romantic than
renegade as his mission statement states: “Here
to create an environment of love, live with
passion, and make our most exciting dreams
come true.” Ultimately while Wanders’ work
excites, provokes, and polarises, it never
fails to surprise for its ingenuity, daring and
singular quest to uplift the human spirit,
and entertain, which for the designer, who
the New York Times called the Lady Gaga of
design, is certainly his greatest achievement.
41 July/AUGUST 2017 | TM