For AD100 designer Rafael de Cárdenas , design is less about style and more about moods. His experience in various creative industries (he has a background in fashion and special effects) has inspired design projects from New York’s Asia de Cuba restaurant to Nike’s private fitness studio in SoHo . This year de Cárdenas has been honored by Maison et Objet Americas as the 2016 Designer of the Year. We spoke with him about his recognition, his approach, and what’s next for the industry at large.
Architectural Digest: Did you ever anticipate winning this kind of award? Rafael de Cárdenas: Any sort of recognition is incredibly humbling and always a surprise to me. I greatly appreciate the generosity of the M&O committee and consider it more than anything a great vote of confidence. It’s a great motivator to keep pushing our interests in generating moods and atmospheric spaces.
AD: What does it mean to create an environment with a mood? How do you know it’s the right mood? RD: I often reference films. Films successfully create atmospheric effects. We similarly try to script the way someone might walk through and experience a space. While we frame views and lighting in order to more closely hone moodiness, I don’t think that we are necessarily striving for any specific mood. The specificity might come with whatever is happening in the space.
AD : What is influencing your work the most right now? RD : I’m always researching all the things that defined my youth growing up in New York City in the 1980s and ’90s. Certainly the Pet Shop Boys blasting in the studio must have some influence—I hope.
AD : Within such a diverse portfolio, do you believe your work has certain qualities that define you? RD : I think the body of work as a whole definitely repeats elements, but I don’t think that is too self-conscious, to be honest. I can see my interests at a given time by looking at a past project. I don’t think that is necessarily detectable to an observer, and I am not so inclined to define it either.
AD : How does your creative process vary? RD : It goes from serene in the morning to frenetic in the afternoon.
AD : What are some things you learned in your career that have surprised you? RD : That I greatly enjoy the business aspects as well. Engaging a new client and learning about them and how I can enhance their own production is fascinating.
AD : What is something happening right now in design that the world should be paying attention to? RD : I think there’s a renewed interest in handcrafting and indexing the tools of production. It’s a very sincere reaction and a welcome nesting instinct to preserve humanism.
AD : What do you believe will influence the next generation of designers? RD : I think design possibly too often ignores the global human condition. We need to think about other people more as designers and members of society.