Whatever you put around yourself, you will be the mirror of it. Surround yourself with things you love.
I collect memories. I look for opportunities to try new things, go to new places, and meet new people all the time.
I am quite familiar with Dubai and its design scene. I have been a regular visitor for more than 10 years. It is hard to name an area where hospitality, friendship, culture, ambition, and beauty are so highly regarded.
I'm 100 percent sure the love and energy we give to a project will end up inside of it. I think it's important that when we work on something, we do it with positive intentions, because this energy will be sensed in the design.
That word 'fantasy' - I hardly ever hear it in the world of design. And that's very strange. You should hear it a lot. I think fantasy is a very important value that designers and artists should bring to the world.
The 'Dezeen's of this world are extremely inspirational but have no realistic dimension any more.
My design always has a political agenda. When I borrow components from various cultures and juxtapose them in an object, it is a message that co-existence is indeed possible. Design creates an ideal world where different ideas live close to each other in perfect harmony.
Design, by definition, is an eco-friendly activity, as its aim is to create objects which are meaningful and durable. Trends always cost resources, but a true designer creates wares which will remain relevant forever.
If I have any basic motivation, it's to inspire people to make their life a masterpiece.
Food has always been at the frontier of creativity.
What's special about Amsterdam is that the city is able to connect worlds that are not otherwise connected.
A product can live on one great idea. An interior needs 1,000 great ideas to really live, which makes interior design a whole orchestration of this art of juxtaposition, placement, and combination.
If I look at my own growth, I started in product design. And we grew and created new products, and we were also able to change the idea of design a few times.
My mom and dad had a store, and sometimes people would return broken stuff. I'd take it apart and reassemble it. At 16, I really understood the architecture of things.
Designers have been uncreative and very arrogant. They need to listen to people. People have always wanted more exciting, interesting design, but we designers didn't see it.
So much in design is presented as a big miracle when it's just a repetition of what's been happening for 80 years.
When I wrote my book about Amsterdam, the main objective was to talk about the city's creativity rather than just its design.