Ishtiaq Rafiuddin started UNDECORATED in 2017. Prior to UNDECORATED, Ishtiaq co-founded a co-working space called Based In, with Tomas Janka. Based In caters to creative professionals in Chinatown, New York City. Before Based In, Ishtiaq co-founded the visualization studio Mimaj in Istanbul and Beirut, with partners Henrik Schulte and Guillaume Crédoz. At Mimaj, Ishtiaq provided services for architects and developers such as SANAA, Herzog & de Meuron, Solidere, and Benchmark. Between 2006 and 2014, Ishtiaq trained as an architect at REX and OMA on projects of varying types and scales.