Tag Archives: Marcel Wanders

Marcel Wanders designed ‘suites’ for sale.


While getting my daily real estate fix on Funda, I stumbled across this remarkable project. In an old gunpowder factory building along the river Amstel, a little south of Amsterdam, Dutch designer Marcel Wanders designed these 7 apartments aptly called suites.

Marcel Wanders designed Amstel Suites

Granted, they are stunning, but with the location right along the highway and the suites measuring an average of 530 square feet (about 50m2), they are priced pretty steep. The smallest one has an asking price of €259.000 and measures a mere 430 square feet. The lay out is very clever with a small pantry, a lush ensuite bathroom with bath, and high vaulted ceilings. The most expensive is quite a bit larger, 624 square feet. The living room is bigger, and the ground floor has enough space to house the bathroom. The bedroom is in the mezzanine. The asking price is €355.000.

Marcel Wanders designed Amstel Suites

I wonder who the developer is trying to target. The suites are too far from the city to be considered an easy commute after a night’s out. They are too close to the highway for that outdoors/countryside feel, and they are very much a single persons abode. So basically they target people living alone, with a decent budget, who do not want to live in the city….. In all honesty, they have many alternatives. If they had converted the building into two or three moderate sized family homes, they would have been able to target a bigger audience.

Marcel Wanders designed Amstel Suites

Check out the suites at the project website.

Photographs courtesy of Ouwehand v/d Meijden Makelaars

Martin the mule


A couple of years ago Dutch design brand Moooi, run by Marcel Wanders, caused a bit of a stir with their Horse Lamp. A real life-sized horse statue with a lamp shade on its head. The piece came with a small table topped pig and a bunny lamp to match.

Pig Tray, Horse Lamp and Bunny Lamp by Front for Moooi

French design studio Ibride must have been inspired as they now come with a mule shaped secretary. The piece is called Martin and is made off brown laminated wood. The drawers are painted shiny white.

Martin the Mule by Ibride

The designer claims his inspiration was Alice in Wonderland. Personally I think the designer of the bunny lamp, Front Design, can make a better claim to that as I don’t recall a mule in Lewis Carroll’s book….

Nonetheless, it’s a great design!

Blow away vase


Geez, more porcelain? really?

Yes, but check out this cool video.

Design shop Moooi commissioned Swedish designers Front to digitalized an old and original vase  from the Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles-Royal Delft and exposed it to a simulated gust of wind. The new shape was reproduced which resulted in Blow away vase.

Available through the Moooi webshop.