What do the disco soundtrack of 1970s sex comedy 'Sesso Matto,' WeWantMore's designs for the smallest grand hotel in Brussels, and uncompromising modernist icon The Breuer on Madison Avenue have in common?
A gentle rundown on the stories that inspire WeWantMore's Executive Creative director Ruud Belmans.Articles, documentaries, podcasts, interviews, soundtracks and white papers plucked from the best worldwide media.
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'Each destination within Faubourg 21 tells its own story. From Noisette, the warm and welcoming lunch bar, to Chaga, the refined fine dining experience — we designed each identity to stand on its own, inviting guests into distinct, personal worlds rather than folding them into a single system.'
The most futuristiccity in the world? (Tap video to play)
→ A new chapter in luxury is unfolding. On Design Insider, WeWantMore Strategy Partner Sophie Maxwell examines how global restaurant culture, not fashion, is increasingly shaping luxury identity, access and influence, and why experiential dining is emerging as the sector’s most powerful status symbol.
"We focused on natural materials such as copper, marble and wood, which come together to envelope diners in a warm, earthy colour palette. A marble-topped bar greets visitors as they enter, with patterned floors in the classic brasserie tradition leading them to their tables."
→ "The fastest growing sector of the culture economy is distraction, says jazz critic and music historian Ted Gioia on his 'The Honest Broker' Substack ."Or call it scrolling or swiping or wasting time or whatever you want. But it’s not art or entertainment, just ceaseless activity. Even the dumbest entertainment looks like Shakespeare compared to dopamine culture."
The Breuer was always a radical premise: architecture as proof that ideas matter. Its bold forms, coffered ceilings, and off-kilter windows challenged the city to see differently. Now, Sotheby’s returns to Madison Avenue to place the world’s most powerful engine of cultural value — collecting, selling, and shaping art — inside this uncompromising modernist icon. Inside, the building comes alive again, calibrated for the 21st century without losing the genius of Marcel Breuer’s design. Galleries, auction spaces, and new cultural intersections coexist within its sculptural walls, proving that architecture can do more than house art: it can amplify it. What happens here next will ripple far beyond these walls.(Tap video to play)
→ "The future of luxury lies not in brands becoming totalitarian lifestyle architects, but in their ability to provide sophisticated tools for individual curation. The most successful will be those that inspire consumers to become their own cultural curators, using brand narratives as starting points rather than destinations. In this model, brands don't replace personal taste—they cultivate it."
Hanae Sato's 1mm tattoo.
→ Ray Masaki reports on the changing tattoo culture in Japan on It's Nice That
→ "My idea of beauty has completely changed over time. Years ago, it was about pure architectural form. Now, it’s about what the space gives people, the human experience. The architect today is less an auteur and more a collaborator, working with communities, fabricators, shaping something meaningful together."
→ “I’ve spent the past decade watching trends quickly calcify into cliché. When taste is algorithmic, even great design becomes disposable. Mario Bellini’s ‘Camaleonda’ sofa - once a triumph of 1970s modularity - got TikTok’d into oblivion.”
'At the new Mövenpick Hotel in Brussels, the WeWantMore design rethinks the role of the transit hotel and enriches it with a playful hint of Belgian surrealism.'
'Belgian surrealism in architecture and fashion connect in room 520 of the Mövenpick Hotel with a carefully curated dash of Belgian fashion royalty.'Curated by Sonja Nöel, founder of STIJL.