Play with Matches
Play with Matches is a podcast for the architecture and design industry’s boldest thinkers. Hosted by UpSpring CEO Tiffany Rafii, each episode goes beyond the work itself and into the thinking behind it, exploring the mindset shifts, strategic pivots, and defining moments that spark real change across the built environment.
Through conversations with architects, designers, founders, and marketers, Play with Matches examines what happens when you stop following the playbook and start rewriting it.
Episodes
8 episodes
Cuff Studio: Rethinking Craft in a Mass Production World
What if craftsmanship isn’t a limitation, but a competitive advantage?In this episode of Play with Matches, Kristi Bender and Wendy Schwartz, cofounders of Cuff Studio, share how building a handcrafted furniture and lighting pra...
Amie Shao: Designing Birth Spaces That Change Outcomes
What if maternal health outcomes are shaped by design decisions? In this episode of Play with Matches, Amie Shao, Principal and Senior Director at Model of Architecture Serving Society (MASS), explores how architecture and the built en...
Adaeze Cadet: Better Design Starts with Inclusion
What if equity isn’t separate from design excellence, but the foundation of it? In this episode of Play with Matches, host Tiffany Rafii sits down with Adaeze Cadet, Design Principal at HOK, to explore how equity and mentorship shape b...
Avi Rajagopal: Attention is Earned, Not Pitched
What makes a story earn attention in today’s design media landscape? In this episode of Play with Matches, host Tiffany Rafii sits down with Avi Rajagopal, Editor-in-Chief of Metropolis, to unpack how products, projects, and b...
Natalie Hartkopf: Sameness is the Real Risk
What happens when you refuse to follow the industry’s playbook? In this episode of Play with Matches, Natalie Hartkopf, co-owner and chair of Hightower, shares how independence, curiosity, and collaboration have shaped one of the most ...
Bruce Becker: Zero Emission Hospitality
What does it take to turn a forgotten landmark into a blueprint for sustainable hospitality? In this episode of Play with Matches, host Tiffany Rafii sits down with architect, developer, and policy leader Bruce Redman Becker, President...
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Pallavi Dean: Design is Not Enough
What does it take to build a design voice that cuts through noise and scales globally? In this episode of Play with Matches, host Tiffany Rafii sits down with Pallavi Dean, architect, designer, and founder of Roar, to explore how bold ...
Introducing Play with Matches (Coming March 24th)
Play with Matches is where the architecture and design industry’s boldest voices come to ignite ideas. Hosted by UpSpring CEO Tiffany Rafii, this podcast explores the campaigns, stories, and mindset shifts sparking transformation across the bui...
