Marcel Wanders

Marcel Wanders (July 2, 1963) is a Dutch industrial designer.

He was born and grew up Boxtel and graduated cum laude from the School of the Arts Arnhem in 1988. Marcel Wanders’ fame started with his iconic Knotted Chair, which he produced for Droog Design in 1996. He is now ubiquitous, designing for the biggest European contemporary design manufacturers like B&B Italia, Bisazza, Poliform, Moroso, Flos, Boffi, Cappellini, Droog Design and Moooi of which he is also art director and co-owner. Founded in 2000, Moooi has grown into an internationally renowned design label. Additionally, Marcel Wanders works on architectural and interior design projects and recently turned his hand to consumer home appliances. In 2007 Wanders collaborated with German sportswear and apparel manufacturer Puma AG on a range of lifestyle products such as beach accessories.

Marcel was the editor of the International Design Yearbook 2005. In the same year, together with chef Peter Lute, he established the extraordinary LUTE SUITES hospitality-concept, the first “all over city suites” hotel in the world. He also designed the interior of Blits, a new restaurant in Rotterdam and the interior of restaurant ‘Thor’ at the Hotel on Rivington in New York including bar, lounge and private club. Marcel is the first and among the most important designers of Droog design. He was a juror for various prizes like the Rotterdam Design Prize (for which his own products were nominated several times) and the Kho Liang Ie prize. He lectured at SFMoMA, Limn, the Design Academy, Nike, IDFA, FutureDesignDays and has taught at various design academies in the Netherlands and abroad.

Various designs of Marcel Wanders have been selected for the most important design collections and exhibitions in the world, like the Museum of Modern Art in New York and San Francisco, the V&A Museum in London, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, the Central Museum in Utrecht, Museum of Decorative Arts Copenhagen and various Droog Design exhibitions.

Coverage on Marcel has been published in all leading design magazines and newspapers such as Domus, Interni, Blueprint, Design Report, Frame, I.D. magazine, Abitare, Wallpaper, Nylon, Elle decoration, Icon, Esquire, the International Herald Tribune, Washington Post, the Financial Times, the New York Times and Business Week.

---

PRACTICE

2004 – Present

Art-director and co-owner of LUTE SUITES, Amsterdam

2001 – Present

Director and owner of Marcel Wanders studio, Amsterdam

Art-director and co-owner of Moooi, Amsterdam

1995 – June 2001

Director of Wanders Wonders, Amsterdam

1992 – 1995

Partner in WAAC's Design & Consults, Rotterdam.

October 1991

Design and execution of the installation "And on the eighth day men started to lie" in the Kunstpassage, The Hague

1990 – 1992

Industrial product designer in Landmark Design & Consult b.v. Rotterdam

July 1988 – Present

Independent industrial product designer

---

CURRENT PROJECTS:

Westerhuis (Amsterdam, NL) is to become a flagship for art and cultural entrepreneurship; opening in 2008

Morgans Hotel Group - Mondrian South Beach(USA, Miami), condominium hotel interior, opening in 2008

Mondrian Hotel (USA, Las Vegas) architectural and interior design, opening 2009/2010

Villa Moda Store (BH) – interior of the store, opening 2008,

Private residence in Jakarta (ID) – architectural and interior design

Private residence in Amsterdam (NL) – interior design

Private residence in Mallorca (ES) - interior design

---

PROJECTS: PRODUCT DESIGN

Marcel Wanders Personal Editions: Crochet Chair, One Minute Delft Blue, One Minute Sculptures, Calvin

B&B Italia interior accessories: Haikus (plates), Couple (pillows), Still Life (ceramics)

Boffi (IT) bathroom products design: Gobi bath tub and sink, Pipe shower, Wall storage system

Cacharel (FR) perfume design

Cappellini (IT) design and realization of the Knotted Chair, a highly innovative high tech product, since then a constant flow of new innovative designs among such as: New Antiques, the Nomad carpet, the Big Shadow collection, the Airborne Snotty vases and the Wood table

Colorline (NL) World Carpet

Droog Design (NL) diverse design projects, such as the Tableau Vivant (tableware for the French governor of Alsace)

Flos(IT) design of a collection of lamps, starting with B.L.O, the newest design is Zeppelin

HE(NL) collection of home electronic appliances

Kartell (IT) diverse design projects, Stone seater

Mandarina Duck (IT) design of a collection of bags and a collection of jewelry,

Moooi (NL) art director and diverse design projects: Two-tops-table and secretary, Naked, Set up Shades, City, Container Table, Oblique, Bottoni

Moroso (IT) diverse design projects (Print)

Royal Tichelaar Makkum (NL) ‘Patchwork’ series of 30 differently decorated plates, made using different original plates from the traditional collection of Royal Tichelaar Makkum. All plates are partly printed, partly painted by hand and are used in random combinations on the table

Swarovski (AU) & Flos (IT) design of Pirouette, a lamp which consists of a curtain of lighting crystals that form different patterns

Air UK design of an in-flight service together with Disc and Partners

Apple Europe (CH) design of a routing system for an Apple symposium

Bombay Sapphire (USA and NL) design for two glasses

British Midland (UK) design of an in-flight service together with Disc and Partners (NL)

City of Amsterdam (NL) design of street furniture and design of Gas and Energy Houses

Magis (IT) design of a collection of plastic consumer products: Pebbles (stool/container), Eppo (chair) and Flare (table with changeable leg-patterns)

Marmoleum Dutch Design (NL) design of the color Sunflower Gold for Forbo, producer of linoleum floors

Ministry of External Affairs (NL) design of a box with 'candle-vases' as present by the Minister of External Affairs

Ministry of Internal Affairs (NL) design and realization of an injection molded card case

Ministry of Finance (NL) design of a jubilee-coin

Organon Teknika (NL) design of a pregnancy tester for clinical use, and a mobile heart-rhythm disorder analyzer

Royal PTT Post (NL) design and realization of different relational gifts

De Ster (NL) design of in-flight services and other catering related plastic products for a great number of airline and railway companies

---

PROJECTS: INTERIOR DESIGN

Bisazza (IT) design of the Milan fair stand 2005, a table, a car and several other projects

Blits (NL) art-direction of the interior of restaurant in Rotterdam

Hotel on Rivington (NY, USA), interior of public areas

Interpolis (NL) Stone house, interior project for an insurance company, consisting of organic meeting rooms within the headquarters

LUTE SUITES (NL), Art Direction for the interiors of apartments and hotel suites in Amsterdam

Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken/ Foreign Affairs (NL) Interior of the Dutch Embassy in Berlin

Mandarina Duck (IT) interior design of WanderDuck the flagship store in London (opened September 2002).

World Expo Hannover (DE) design of the VIP room in the Dutch pavilion

---

CHARITY

Kika Award:

The KiKa Organization, Amstelveen (NL) funds research for children with cancer. Every year a person or company that has committed itself to the KiKa vision receives the KiKa Award. Marcel Wanders designed the award, a porcelain bear.

Kika Tablecloth:

In 2005, Marcel Wanders designed a tablecloth for a charity auction for the KiKa Organization, Amstelveen (NL) that funds research for children with cancer.

MAD:

In 2007, Marcel donated several pieces to the Museum of Arts & Design (MAD) of New York charity auction whose proceeds will support the exhibitions and education programs of the museum.

Visionaries!:

On November 14, 2007, a gala event and charity auction took place with to honor Marcel as one of 2007’s Visionaries. The Visionaries! Award exemplifies excellence and innovation in the recipient’s field and annually celebrates extraordinary artists and designers who have advanced the fields of art, craft and design. Proceeds will support the exhibitions and education programs of the museum.

Gap:

In the Fall of 2007, Marcel was featured in Gap’s Campaign “Classics Redefined” photographed by Annie Leibovitz. The total proceeds have been donated by Marcel to the educational programs for children of the Museum of Art and Design of New York.

Art Bag:

The Art Bag was designed by Marcel for Stop Aids Now! an organization which focuses on activities that provide information, support and treatment to people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS.

Can of Gold:

Founded in 2001, the Can of Gold project travels around the world. The proceeds from each project go towards the homeless and disadvantaged in the communities in which the project is held.

2007 Brugge, Belgium

2006 Mexico

2003 London

2003 Sydney

2002 Washington

2001 Hamburg

Art Basel Miami (USA) 2007, charity event hosted by Luminaire, design and donation of the 'Courage Puppy Love'. 100% of the proceeds from the auction go to the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Centre to fund cancer research.

---

AWARDS

2007 Visionary! Award for artists of the Museum of Arts and Design (NY, USA)

2006 Winner of the Elle Decoration International Design Awards ‘Designer of the Year’ Awarded ‘Designer of the Year 2006’ by Italian magazine Gioia Casa Awarded ‘Best interior professional’ for Moooi, Dutch Woonawards 2006

2005 Winner of the Elle Decoration International Design Awards for ‘Carbon chair’, design by Bertjan Pot and Marcel Wanders for Moooi

2004 Winner of the Löberschütz design competition in Munich (DE) with design and brand of a new water bottle

2003 Selected amongst Europe’s 25 Leaders of Change by Business Week (USA) Winner of Elle Decoration International Design Award 2003 for ‘Patchwork Plates’, ceramic tableware series Winner of Vredeman de Vries Vormgevingsprijs 2003 for ‘Patchwork Plates’, ceramic tableware series FX award for Moooi Collection; ‘best furniture or lighting for residential interiors’

2002 Man of the Year, MAN (Dutch magazine)

2000 George Nelson Award, Interiors Magazine Alterpoint Design Award 2000, Milano, IT

1998 Winner of the 'Woonbeurspin', NL Honorable mention in the 'Compasso d'Oro', IT

1996 ‘Kho Liang Ie’ consolation prize, NL

1990 3th prize design contest 'Staande indoor lamp', Amsterdam, NL

1989 1st prize design contest 'Verzamelband', iON Rotterdam, NL

1986 1st prize in the design contest, 'Olympic Design 1992', USA 1st prize in the design contest, 'Café Modern’ (Nescafé), NL

---

AWARD NOMINATIONS

2006 ‘Best Interior Product’ nomination for Moooi Boutique, Dutch Woonawards

2005 Lensvelt Architecure award nomination, Lute Suites Dutch Design Award, best product design and best interior design, nomination

2004 ‘Designer of the Year’, Blueprint Magazine, nomination World Technology Award by The World Technology Network, in association with Nasdaq, Microsoft, Time Magazine and Science Magazine, nomination

2003 Elle Deco International Design Awards 2002; designer of the year, nomination Elle Deco International Design Awards 2002; bath product of the year with the whole range of bath products for Boffi, nomination Dedalus prize, nomination (one of the 5 finalists)

2001 ‘Designer of the Year’ category in WIRED Magazine's 2001 WIRED Rave Awards, nomination

2000 Rotterdam Design Prize, nomination Best bathroom-design in the Benelux, nomination

1999 Double nomination Rotterdam Design Prize

1997 Ava Ceramic Award, nomination

1993 Rotterdam Design Prize, nomination

---

EXHIBITIONS

2008

Vivid Witzenhausen Gallery, Amsterdam, NL

Salone del Mobile, Milan, IT

2008/2007

Tools Galerie, Paris, FR

2007

Salone del Mobile, Milan, IT

Taste Gallery, Geneva, CH

Business of Design Week, Hong Kong, HK

Liberty PLC, London, UK

Studio Andacht, Amsterdam, NL

Inside Design Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL

VIVID Gallery, Rotterdam, Nl

Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, UK

Designmai, Berlin, DE

Gallery Phoebus, Rotterdam, NL

2006

Salone del Mobile, Milan, IT

Acme Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

Blender, Amsterdam, Nl

Tools Galerie, Paris, FR

Premsela, Amsterdam, NL

Vessel Galerry, London, Uk

2005

Salone del Mobile, Milan, IT

Hong Kong Electronics Fair, Hong Kong, HK

Fabienne Sivera, Paris, FR

‘Touch me’,Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), London, UK

‘Nest’, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL

‘Simply Droog’, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, NL

Museum at FIT, New York, USA (October)

2004

Passagen, Koln, DE

Stockholm Furniture fair, Stockholm, SE

Reality Machines, Parochial Kirche, Berlin, DE

Interior Design Show, Toronto, CA

Salone del Mobile, Milan, IT

Design Lab Nike, Portland, USA

ICFF presentation at Moss, New York, USA

100% Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL, several times with a.o.: Cans of Gold, Airborne Snotties.

Bulthaup Center, Design Gallery, St Petersburg, RU

100% design, London, UK

Creativity Observatory, Genova 2004, curated by Alessandro and Francesco Mendini, IT

Woonrai, Amsterdam, NL

Via Milano 04, Amsterdam, NL

Designers Present, Eindhoven, NL: one-minute-sculptures

Cibone, Tokyo, JP: special Container Table covers

“The foreign affairs of Dutch Design”, BNO traveling exhibition, NL: Pipe, Airborne Snotty Vase, Mandarina Duck

2003

Kunst Woont “in 24 uur” VIP chair and Knotted chair, Groningen, NL

Can of Gold project London at Noel Hennesy Furniture, UK

“Stoelendans” public vote contest for a new classic chair, nominated VIP chair and Knotted chair, Eindhoven, NL

Woonbeurs Amsterdam RAI, Via Milano, highlights of Salone del Mobili, Amsterdam, NL

Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Exhibition “het onstaan der Dingen”, Rotterdam, NL

Salone del Mobile, presentation of light installation ‘Pirouette’ for Swarovski Crystal Palace, Milan, IT

Salone del Mobile (a.o. Cappellini, Moooi, Magis, Flos, Droog Design, Goods), Milan, IT

Reality Machines, Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI), Rotterdam, NL

2002

The Design Center at Philadelphia University, USA

Body Design, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), USA

Strangely Familiar: Design and Everyday Life, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA

Skin: Surface, Substance + Design, Cooper-Hewitt, New York, USA

Prototypes, Nieuwe Brabantse Kunst Stichting, NL

Kunstpaviljoen, Nieuw Rhoden, Groningen, NL

Via Milano, Baby, NL

Milan in a Van – one designer show, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK

River Deep, Mountain High, Het Glazen Huis/the Glass House, Amsterdam Amstelpark, NL

Opening new showroom of Moooi in Breda, NL

Prototypes, Museum Waterland, Purmerend, NL

Salone del Mobile (a.o. Cappellini, Moooi, Magis, Mandarina Duck, Droog Design), IT

Apartment Zero, Washington, USA

Home Made Holland, Crafts Council Gallery, London, UK

2001

Limn (design interior shop), San Francisco, USA

'Marcel Wanders, Moooi in Amstelveen', wooncentrum Co van der Horst, Amstelveen, NL

Works of Moooi in‘t Arsenaal, Grave (NL), the newest store of Jan des Bouvrie

‘Van A tot Zit’, the fishnet chair appeared in this exhibition amongst other chairs, Stedelijk Museum Roermond, NL

Salone del Mobile (a.0. Cappellini, Moooi, Magis, Mandarina Duck, Droog Design, Goods), IT

2000

Mutazioni dilumingioia, Padua, IT

Search for Art exhibition, Milan, IT

Hitec-Lotec exhibition, traveling through England until 2002, UK

‘Dutch Design’, in Ozone, Living Design Centre, Tokyo, JP

Wanders Wanted expo, in Gallery Material Connection, NY, USA

'Design World' in Taideteollisuus Museum, Helsinki, FI

Droog design exhibition traveling through USA

Droog Design exhibition, Israel Museum, IL

1999

'Wanders Wonders expo' in Gallery TZ Art, New York, USA

1998

‘Material innovation gallery' in Material Connexion, New York USA 'Materials in design' in Östereichisches

Institut für Formgebung, Vienna, AT

IAA, int. Automobil Ausstellung, Frankfurt, DE

New Metropolis, Amsterdam, NL

Euromat 1998, Lissabon, PT

Hannover Messe, Hannover, DE

De Witte Dame, Eindhoven, NL

Batibouw, Parc des expositions, Brussels, BE

1997

'The Ecology Series 1 Glamour' in Material Connexion, New York, USA

'Mutant Materials in contemporary design' in Groninger museum, Groningen, NL

'Ava Ceramic Award' in Princessenhof, Leeuwarden, NL

'Droog Design' in Taideteolisuusmuseo, Helsinki, FI

Kulturbrauerei, Zentrum für Kultur, Politik und Okologie, DE

Centraal Museum, Utrecht, NL

Stillwerk Design Center GmbH, Hamburg, DE

'Materials in design' in Tekniska Mässan, Stockholm, SE

Industrial Technology Congress, Toulouse, FR

The Institute of Materials, London, UK

'Salone di Mobile' in Magazzini Cappellini, Milan, IT

1996

'Nominations Rotterdam Design Prize', Kunsthal, Rotterdam, NL

'Scanning' in Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL

'Tresholds' in MOMA, New York, USA

'Dry tech' in Droog Design, Milan, Italy

'Mentalitäten' in Design Zentrum, Stuttgart, DE

1995

'Mentalitäten' in Securitas Gallery, Bremen, DE

1993

'An art collection of combs' in Mikimoto, Ginza, Tokio, JP

'Made in Holland' in Museum für angewandte Kunst, Köln, DE

'World-Expo' in World Expo, Taipé, Taiwan

'Droog Design, selection of Dutch design' in Pastoe showroom, Milan, IT

1992

'Materiaal, stof voor vormgeving' in Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, NL

'Dutch Design' in ITB, Bandung, ID

1990

'Embarrassment of riches' in EEG congress, Avignon, FR

---

EDUCATION

1985–1988 Hogeschool voor de Kunsten, Arnhem, the Netherlands, 1988 Cum Laude Certificate

1983–1985 Academie voor Schone kunsten, Hasselt (Belgium)

1982–1985 Academie voor Toegepaste kunsten, Maastricht, the Netherlands

1981–1982 Academie voor Industriële Vormgeving (now called the Design Academy Eindhoven) Eindhoven, the Netherlands ADDITIONAL EDUCATION

2001 Seminar by Anthony Robbins (Leadership in Effective Management)

2000 Seminar by Anthony Robbins (Wealth Mastery)

1997 Seminar by Anthony Robbins (Wealth Mastery & Date with Destiny)

1996 Seminar by Anthony Robbins (Life Mastery & UPW; Unleash the Power Within)

1995 Personal training by Richard Greene NEI practitioner training Seminar by Anthony Robbins (the Power of Personal Marketing)

External links

• Marcel Wanders Studio