Rafael de Cárdenas is a designer and creative director based in New York. Since 2006, he has led a multifaceted international practice spanning residential and commercial interiors, architecture, furniture design, art advisory, and brand development. Through his studio, Rafael de Cárdenas, Ltd., he approaches design as an interdisciplinary exercise shaped by culture, narrative, and atmosphere. His work moves fluidly between architecture, fashion, and art, reflecting a deep engagement with both contemporary culture and historical references.

Rafael de Cárdenas, 111 West 57th Street.
Photo: Adrian Gaut

In this conversation, Rafael de Cárdenas reflects on the habits and perspectives that sustain a life in design. From daily meditation and physical training to a voracious engagement with culture in all its forms, he shares how curiosity, gratitude, and attentiveness allow him to stay receptive to inspiration — whether found in the quiet of the forest or the collective energy of creative communities.

AS: What are some self-care practices that you find most benefit your work & creative output?

RdC: Looking, reading, and watching as much as I possibly can. I don’t curate this too much, but it’s a mix of pop culture received through social media and TV, along with gallery and museum shows. For lack of a better term, I voraciously consume high and low culture. Though I myself don’t make too much of a distinction between the two. I also run and weight lift 3x per week and do 2 days of yoga. In truth, I don’t make all of these targets, but it is the aim. I do transcendental meditation every morning for 20 minutes, followed by my Hoffman Process Quad check, and then some journaling.

AS: In what ways do you nurture your mental and emotional health to maintain creativity and inspiration?

RdC: Walking through the forest. There’s a 15-minute hike near my house in the Berkshires that I can walk to. I regularly go there once a day, sometimes more. I’ll do the hike and then sit on a bench overlooking an abandoned stone quarry. I don’t know if it gives me inspiration, but it does give me gratitude which, I assume helps in my creativity…a healthy, positive mind.

“GRATITUDE KEEPS ME GROUNDED IN THE LIFE I ONCE HOPED TO BUILD.” - Rafael de Cárdenas

AS: What practices or routines do you incorporate into your daily life to support your work while maintaining your creative energy and mental well-being?

RdC: In addition to the above, I also take breaks throughout the day to speak to different members of my team. I like to know their interests and what they are doing outside of our work context. I also will often share cultural touch points, past and present, that move and inspire me for different reasons. Humans are still mostly good and might just need a little coaxing to be better.

Rafael de Cárdenas, Piaget Place Vendôme, Paris.
Photo: DePasquale+Maffini

AS: How do you handle setbacks or challenges in your creative endeavours while still prioritizing your well-being?

RdC: I do my best to stay grateful. I keep a gratitude practice that is less regular than my Hoffman Process Quad checks, but I do my best to remind myself of how much I have to be grateful for and how so many of the things I’ve achieved and have are things I prayed for years ago.

AS: What specific environment or settings do you find especially conducive to both self-care and creative inspiration?

RdC: I find creativity and inspiration often alone and adjacent to nature. But I do also love community and think that we are better when we are collectively inspired. In short, I take inspiration from almost any situation and do my best to stay receptive to messages from the universe wherever they might come from.

Rafael de Cárdenas, Lenox Hill Townhouse.
Photo: William Jess Laird

AS: Best self-care advice you have received?

RdC: I wouldn’t call this advice, but I recently read this quote by Alan Watts: “We are a cosmic accident of consciousness that learned to call itself by a name.” It’s humbling but also very much a call to action in my mind.

Rafael de Cárdenas's portrait photo by Weston Wells.

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