Matt Small · Landscape architect
What makes an outdoor place matter?
I'm Matt Small. For 25 years I have studied how people use outdoor places. Ignite Wild is where I share what I learn about what brings them back.
About
Twenty-five years of reading the land and the people on it.
I am a landscape architect. My work keeps coming back to one question. What do people actually do in a place, and how should the design answer?
People show you what they value by what they do. They show it in where they go, when they come and how long they stay. I start there, not with guesses about who they are.
Behavior is only half of it. The other half is the spark. That is the feeling of being outside with people you care about. Good design protects it.
25 years
Landscape architecture
I plan and design parks, communities and outdoor resorts. I am a licensed Professional Landscape Architect. I am also a SITES Accredited Professional in sustainable site design.
A decade
Data and mapping
I built and grew a mapping technology company. It taught me to read places through data. It also taught me that data only matters when it changes a decision.
Today
RVi Intelligence
I am Director of Landscape Architecture and Director of Outdoor Hospitality at RVi Planning + Landscape Architecture. There I help build RVi Intelligence. It uses real visitor behavior to guide how outdoor places are planned.
What I believe
I use data to understand behavior. I use design to protect the spark.
Behavior is the evidence.
People show you what they value by what they do.
Design protects the spark.
The data shows where people go. Design decides how it feels when they get there.
The senses do the work.
Light, sound, smell and touch reconnect us to nature and to each other.
Leave it better.
Growth should strengthen a place, not erase it. The people already there come first.
Spark by Ignite Wild
Recent writing
Essay · April 2026
The Cuyuna Paradigm, Part 2
What a trail town has to build once the riders keep coming.
Essay · April 2026
The Cuyuna Paradigm, Part 1
How an iron range in Minnesota became a place people drive hours to reach.
Essay · April 2026
The Real Product Is Memory
Experience is not the wrong word. It is just an incomplete one. What a guest carries home is the thing we are really building.
Talks and podcasts
Hear it in conversation
- SessionGlamping Show Americas 2026Site planning: know who you are building for
- PodcastMC Fireside ChatsGuest, with Modern Campground. [Episode title][Date] · Listen
- PodcastEXPITALITY OutdoorsGuest. [Episode title][Date] · Listen
- RecordingAmerican Glamping AssociationLunch and Learn: A Ten Point Field GuideWatch on YouTube
- RecordingAmerican Glamping AssociationGlamping Experts SpotlightMay 2026 · Watch
- RecordingAmerican Glamping AssociationMember Meetup with Matt SmallWatch on YouTube
Let's talk.
About a place, an idea or something you read here. I would like to hear from you.
Matt Small
LinkedIn