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Behind the Build

Behind the Build with Jonathan Jacobs
Behind the Build
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107 episodes

  • Behind the Build

    Behind the Build AD: Ludwig Godefroy - Ludwig Godefroy Architect

    2026-2-02 | 1h 50 mins.
    Ludwig Godefroy is a French architect born in Gouville-sur-Mer, a small fishing village of roughly 1,000 inhabitants on the Normandy coast, facing the Atlantic Ocean. Raised in a rural environment shaped by craftsmanship, tides, and the honesty of manual labor, his early life was deeply influenced by place. He later moved to Paris to study architecture and graduated from the École d’Architecture de la Ville et des Territoires à Marne-la-Vallée, a Paris-East school housed in a Bernard Tschumi–designed building, where he was part of the first cohort to occupy the campus.
    Godefroy’s education was shaped by travel and cultural immersion. After studying in Paris, he lived and worked in London, Philadelphia, and New York. In New York, he interned at Thomas Leeser Architecture, contributing to the Three-Legged Dog Theater project while living in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He later trained in Barcelona at EMBT, the studio of Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue, contributing to projects including the Gas Natural headquarters during a period when the office was completing Miralles’ final works. He subsequently joined OMA in Rotterdam, working under Rem Koolhaas during a formative moment for the practice.
    In 2009, Godefroy relocated to Mexico City to work with Tatiana Bilbao, where he became a project leader and embraced a working culture that entrusted young architects with significant responsibility. In 2011, he established his independent practice. His first built project was the M.N. Roy nightclub in Mexico City, followed by Casa Zicatela in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, completed in 2014. Originally conceived with conventional finishes, Casa Zicatela evolved into a raw concrete and tropical wood structure after exposure to local construction methods and a site visit to Tadao Ando’s Casa Wabi, marking a turning point in his architectural language.
    Today, Godefroy lives and works in Mexico City, operating a small atelier focused on materially honest, emotionally driven architecture. His work spans residential, cultural, and hospitality projects across Mexico and internationally, with ongoing and recent projects in Japan, Alaska, Paraguay, Bali, and the Philippines. His architecture is widely recognized for its sculptural use of concrete, spatial restraint, and deep engagement with place, and is frequently encountered through architectural publications and on Instagram.
    Curated Podcast Sponsors:
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    To connect with our sponsors, email me: [email protected]
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  • Behind the Build

    Behind the Build ID: Meg Cassidy - Studio Meg Cassidy

    2026-1-29 | 1h 27 mins.
    Meg Cassidy is a Toronto based interior designer and the founder of Studio Meg Cassidy, which she established in 2017. She grew up in Waterloo, Ontario, in a family shaped by both academic and entrepreneurial influences. Her father played professional hockey before becoming a teacher, and her mother owned a modeling agency. Cassidy was a competitive dancer for 13 years, attended an arts focused high school for Grades 9 and 10 where she studied dance and drama, and developed an early interest in writing, history, and creative expression.
    She earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and was accepted to a master’s program in communications in Australia, but instead moved from Waterloo to Toronto after taking a role in experiential marketing. Over more than a decade, she built a senior career across agency and client side roles, developing expertise in client service, communication, project management, and budget control.
    After completing small freelance projects for friends and documenting home renovations through blogging and social platforms, Cassidy transitioned into full time practice. Her early work focused on decorating and furnishings, later evolving into comprehensive interior design for renovations and new builds. She built her studio around strong technical support and is known for producing highly detailed documentation packages that support builders and reduce ambiguity during construction.
    Her work includes new builds as well as complex apartment and home renovations across Toronto and the United States, with projects in New York City, California, and beyond. Much of this cross border work developed organically through social media and client referrals, particularly during the shift toward remote collaboration.
    Cassidy was named to a global top 20 under 40 designers list within two years of founding her firm. She prioritizes long term client relationships, close collaboration with builders, and interiors that reflect the people who live in them rather than a fixed signature style.
    Curated Podcast Sponsors:
    ⁠⁠⁠⁠Caplan's Appliances⁠⁠⁠⁠
    ⁠⁠⁠⁠The Doors⁠⁠⁠⁠
    To connect with our sponsors, email me: [email protected]
    ⁠⁠⁠⁠Behind the Build Instagram
  • Behind the Build

    Behind the Build AD: Anya Moryoussef - Anya Moryoussef Architect

    2026-1-26 | 1h 3 mins.
    Anya Moryoussef is an architect based in Toronto, where she was born and raised. She is the child of immigrant parents, with her mother arriving from South Africa and her father from Morocco in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Growing up, she was deeply introspective and drawn to solitary creative pursuits, including drawing, making objects, and extended imaginative play. Her early interest in art was shaped by her mother, a trained sculptor, and a broader family connection to visual art.
    Moryoussef attended high school in Toronto, where she was encouraged by her art teacher, Marilyn Berkovich, to apply to the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. She applied exclusively to Waterloo and was accepted, with a secondary plan to study physics and art history at the University of Toronto. At Waterloo, she developed a strong interest in cultural history and theory, particularly through coursework in iconography, which reframed her understanding of history and abstraction.
    During her architectural education, she completed multiple co op work terms that took her abroad for extended periods, including living and working in London and Istanbul. After graduating, she returned to England for three additional years before settling back in Toronto. She joined Superkül when it was a small studio and worked there for approximately five years, gaining intensive experience in construction documentation, detailing, and project delivery through close mentorship.
    Moryoussef established her own practice in 2016. Her work focuses primarily on single family residential architecture, guided by long term client relationships and an interest in the domestic scale. Her projects are located across Toronto, the GTA, and regions including Georgian Bay, Algonquin, and Mulmur.
    Her work has been widely recognized. She is the recipient of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Emerging Architect Award, has received multiple RAIC medals, and has been recognized by the Ontario Association of Architects. Her practice has been featured in Wallpaper* magazine’s Architects Directory, AN Interior’s Top 50 Architects and Designers, and the Twenty + Change Emerging Talent program.
    Curated Podcast Sponsors:
    ⁠⁠Caplan's Appliances⁠⁠
    ⁠⁠The Doors⁠⁠
    ⁠⁠Aquanta Pools⁠⁠
    To connect with our sponsors, email me: [email protected]
    ⁠⁠Behind the Build Instagram
  • Behind the Build

    Behind the Build ID: Dyonne Fashina - Denizens of Design

    2026-1-22 | 1h 13 mins.
    Dyonne Fashina is the founder of Denizens of Design, a Toronto based interior design practice working across hospitality, commercial, and cultural projects. She grew up in Hockley Valley, just north of Orangeville, on a seven acre property with a creek connected to the Nottawasaga River. Her earliest creative experiences came from working with clay found along the creek, forming objects by hand, which established a lasting connection to materiality and making.
    Fashina pursued art from a young age, including weekly watercolour classes beginning at age twelve, and that medium continues to inform her work today. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts at Western University before earning her interior design degree at Ryerson University, now Toronto Metropolitan University. While in school, she worked at Fleur de Lis, developing a strong foundation in millwork and detailing, and later held roles at Retail Environments, Stantec, and Quadrangle.
    After navigating layoffs early in her career, she set out to build her own stability and began working independently. Her first major commission was a one hundred suite hotel in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Since then, her practice has grown through long standing relationships and direct outreach. Denizens of Design is known for a collaborative model that brings together architects, engineers, fabricators, and makers as needed. The studio operates from a shared workspace with architect Paul Raff, fostering cross disciplinary exchange.
    Her work with the Food Dudes includes cultural and museum dining projects at the Gardiner Museum, the McMichael, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Evergreen Brick Works, and the Alton Mill Arts Centre, where she has helped develop flexible hospitality environments that support both daily use and events. Outside of practice, she is an avid traveler and lifelong musician who sings regularly at karaoke. She has also referenced a childhood photo, often shared on Instagram Stories, showing her in a bright green snowsuit while supervising her brother’s early building projects.
    Curated Podcast Sponsors:
    ⁠⁠⁠Caplan's Appliances⁠⁠⁠
    ⁠⁠⁠The Doors⁠⁠⁠
    ⁠⁠⁠Aquanta Pools⁠⁠⁠
    To connect with our sponsors, email me: [email protected]
    ⁠⁠⁠Behind the Build Instagram
  • Behind the Build

    Behind the Build AD: Stefano Pujatti - ElasticoSPA (ElasticoFARM)

    2026-1-19 | 1h 13 mins.
    Stefano Pujatti is an Italian architect and designer, born in Budoia near Pordenone in northeastern Italy, north of Venice. He grew up in a rural environment close to a NATO base, an experience that exposed him early to international culture and different perspectives. From a young age he was drawn to construction, farming, and horses, beginning to ride early and maintaining a lifelong connection to horsemanship.
    He studied architecture in Venice, where he was educated within one of Europe’s most rigorous academic environments, and later completed a master’s degree at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. His education placed him in contact with influential figures and movements shaping late twentieth century architecture, including deconstructivist practices and frequent lectures and reviews by architects such as Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid. These experiences shifted his approach toward physical experimentation, model making, and a direct engagement with form and space.
    Early in his career he worked in Los Angeles, including model work connected to Gehry’s office, before returning to Europe to work with Professor Gino Valle. He later established his own practice, ElasticoSPA (ElasticoFARM online) taking on public commissions at a young age, including cemetery and crematorium projects that were built early and helped define his professional trajectory. His work has ranged from landscape integrated public projects to housing, industrial buildings, and interior and product design.
    Based in Torino, he has also maintained a long standing professional presence in Toronto since 2014. During this period he taught for two semesters at the University of Toronto and completed early Canadian work such as the York Marble offices. His practice continues to operate across Italy and Canada, shaped by a belief that design is a way of thinking rather than a fixed scale or typology, and by a strong sense of responsibility toward clients and collaborators who place their trust in his work.
    Curated Podcast Sponsors:
    ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Caplan's Appliances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
    ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Doors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
    ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Aquanta Pools⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
    To connect with our sponsors, email me: [email protected]
    ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Behind the Build Instagram

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An in-depth #Podcast hosted by Jonathan Jacobs, interviewing Design Professionals about them, their #design practice and more...
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