Rafael de Cárdenas

Peter Zumthor and Michael Govan have gathered the evidence of humanity - our desire to make things, to shape ourselves as objects, to create places where we assemble, form communities, invent rituals, and fall in love - and compressed it into a barely contained atmosphere.  This building and its contents do more than exhibit culture; they make us feel civilization alive, trembling, and shared. Wonder leaks from every encounter. Thank you for creating a place that reminds us how awesome we can be.

TGI architectural F! 🍹 Here are 10 new examples of wood in architecture we recently liked on Archinect firm profiles: 📸 Cover: Montauk Residence in Montauk, NY, by Rafael de Cárdenas @rafaeldecardenas.ltd ; Photo: Thomas Loof 📸 2: Brown House in Washington, DC, by BLDUS @bld.us ; Photo: Jennifer Hughes 📸 3: TDW Exhibition Stand in Munich, Germany, by destilat Design Studio GmbH @destilat.design.studio 📸 4: Marga Klompé Building in Tilburg, Netherlands, by Powerhouse Company @powerhousecompany ; Photo: Sebastian van Damme 📸 5: Brookland Apartments in Portland, OR, by Hacker Architects @hackerarchitects ; Photo: Stephen A. Miller 📸 6: Temporary and Mobile Reception Pavilion in Nice, France, by Nicola Spinetto Architectes @nicola.spinetto.architectes ; Photo: Sergio Grazia 📸 7: Madriguera Eco Reserve Stays in Arteaga, Mexico, by S-AR @stacionarq ; Photo: Recording Architecture 📸 8: Kitsap Cabin in Kingston, WA, by Studio DIAA @studiodiaa ; Photo: Kevin Scott 📸 9: University of Southern Maine Crewe Center for the Arts in Portland, ME, by Perkins Eastman @perkinseastman (they're currently hiring on Archinect Jobs!); Photo: Tim Griffith 📸 10: Wuhan Senbo Resort in Wuhan, China, by WJD Design-Endless Mind; Photo: Hanmo Vision — Song Ye/Fupeng Wu 📸 11: Montauk Residence in Montauk, NY, by Rafael de Cárdenas @rafaeldecardenas.ltd ; Photo: Thomas Loof Learn more about each of these projects on their designers' profiles on Archinect (link in bio). Wanna be included in one of the next roundups? Simply upload your work as a Project post to your Archinect People or Firm profile, and with some luck, your work gets featured! archinect.com/submit/project Looking for architecture jobs or interested in finding the right candidates for your open roles? archinect.com/jobs and follow @archinectjobs #Archinect #ArchinectProjects #Architecture #wooddesign #timberarchitecture

John, you’ve been a star since the day I met you. Thank you for bringing me along for the @lito_editions ride. As you said—we’re general admission at Coachella: the ones who show up early and stay until the very end. Here’s to bigger, better, and more.

Reminded by a stranger this morning: how today feels is largely what I make of it, even on this spinning orb beneath an endless sky. I don’t have to hand the day over to small failures, irritations, or the ambient anxiety of the moment. Today, I choose to make it magic out of the stardust that’s falling all around us

This angel cuts through the darkness like a shard of light, revealing love at its most clear. And this is what we all want : to feel love together, in community. And imprinted on us from the beginning - stardust learning how to gather and care, and how to become more than singular. We came from small bands of primates. We are shaped by this impulse - to support one another, to love one another, and to feel the miracle of being human, together, under the stars that made us.

In the 80s, when everything extraordinary felt out of my reach, I was in awe of Linda Dresner. Her Park Avenue shop looked like the Death Star—otherworldly and exacting, AND a vision of the future. Linda passes this week. One of the last of a generation who didn’t just curate fashion, but shaped culture - and gave the rest of us something to aspire to. At 11, I asked who designed the store. I was told: Michael Gabellini. Burned into my brain and a hero forever. @gabellinisheppard Linda -I never knew you, but you changed how I see and what I want to see more of. And off to the stars that made her …

After a long distance - the sun finds me again

Life is a struggle, and this morning I remind myself: stumbling is still moving forward. I appreciate my desire to love. And I honor my desire to be loved. I am loved - and I know you know I’m speaking to you. I love you. Some more than others, yes - and this morning I offer that love freely, in gratitude for the rarest condition: that we are here at all, at the same time, and that our lives have crossed. I’m grateful for everything I feel - and for all the feelings, real or imagined, that brought me here. Today is a good day to have a great day! ❤️

Private. Retail. Brand. A Lenox Hill Townhouse. @awakenewyorkclothing @hommegirls @skims Rafael de Cárdenas designs across worlds — using space to shift mood, identity and narrative. Full conversation now live. Link in bio 🎧 📸 1-2 @awakenewyorkclothing New York. Credit: @a_gaut 3-4 Lennox Hill Townhouse. Credit: @william.jess.laird 5-6 @hommegirls New York. Credit: @victoriahelyhutchinson 7-9 @skims in New York. Credit: @wabranowicz #CompellingPodcast #RafaeldeCardenas #Design #NewYork #RetailDesign #Interiors #Architecture #LuxuryDesign

👉What and who directs culture? 👉What should you be paying attention to? “It’s not Bach, okay. It’s not Freud. It’s this. It’s the cartoons you watch. It’s the movies you watch. It’s the clothes you wear. The everyday things are the things that actually build the world that you live in.” @rafcardy @rafcardy talks @madonna and @taylorswift , Brokeback Mountain and @heatedrivalrycrave . Listen to the full Episode at the link in bio💫

ASeriesof: community Each month, we feature a creative voice from our community exploring how self-care practices support long-term creativity and well-being. This month, we speak with Rafael de Cárdenas (@rafcardy ), the New York-based designer and creative director known for a practice that moves fluidly between interiors, architecture and culture at large. In this conversation, Rafael reflects on the rituals that shape his creative life — from meditation and movement to an insatiable curiosity for culture in all its forms. He shares how gratitude, attentiveness, and openness to the world around him continue to fuel inspiration across his work. Read the full conversation on our site: aseriesof.co #rafaeldecardenas #aseriesofcommunity #aseriesof

No single style. No fixed vocabulary. Just cultural instinct translated into space. From Montauk calm to Manhattan precision, from private residences to brand environments — @rafaeldecardenas.ltd studio of @rafcardy moves fluidly between worlds, shaping interiors that feel both controlled and unexpected. These spaces show the range. Our latest Compelling episode explores the thinking behind it: Subculture, identity, algorithms, Americanness — and why surprise still matters in shaping taste. Watch / listen via link in bio 🎧 📸 1-3: 111 W 57th residence, New York. Credit: @a_gaut 4, 5: @piaget on Place Vendome, Paris. Credit: DePasquale+Maffini 6-8: Montauk residence. Credit: Thomas Loof 9: @rizzolibooks monograph published about the work of @rafaeldecardenas.ltd . Credit: Vincent Dilio