What I find so inspiring about my profession is the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects. At the moment, I am working on a collection for a new brand of baby accessories, including a stroller and car seat; a collection of hand-painted ceramic plates; residential towers in Mexico; lighting for Flos and Swarovski; a large crystal chandelier for the Dutch “White House”—the prime minister’s residence—and a lot more.

You often get categorized as being part of a new Dutch movement in design. Is that an accurate or fair assessment?

I do not consider myself a Dutch designer. I am who I am, and, of course, what surrounds me influences me, but we live in a large world. When I was a child, I listened to the stories of Grimm, music of Vivaldi, went on vacation in Bordeaux, followed football in the U.K. When I was older, I started reading Ken Wilber and Nietzsche, came across Tony Robbins and Deepak Chopra, learned lessons from the Dalai Lama. I am the poetry of my past days, a careful assembly of all these encounters.

What is your main goal or approach when you design something?

I am here to create an environment of love, to live with passion, and to make my most exciting dreams come true. I like to make things light and with a sense of humor, but never a joke.

Though your designs are often whimsical or tongue-in-cheek, it is obvious you take design very seriously. Are your designs a reflection of your personality?

If I open the door of my living room, I am in my studio. There is only one Marcel Wanders: He is a designer, father, lover, writer, poet, troublemaker, friend. I can only be that all at once. Every man has the right to make a masterpiece of his life, and it is our right to try to contribute to this masterpiece. I try with my designs to make a connection to real life and to contribute to the lives of people. I know that I take design as seriously as my life, but even there—there is no reason to take even life too seriously.