faces of the future - Illuminating Engineering Society

FUTURE LEADERS
Many young lighting professionals
have won awards, but
how many have been recognized
by the Worshipful Company of
Lightmongers (No, that’s not a misprint.)
Emrah Baki Ulas has. In 2008,
he received the organization’s “Best
Presentation Award.”
In many ways, Ulas’s career is as
singular as his achievements. An international
man of light, he was trained
in Turkey, attended graduate school in
Germany, practices lighting design in
Australia, and lectures and presents all
around the world, most recently in Sweden,
where he headed the PLDA’s Lights
in Alingsås workshop. Though Ulas only
has a few years of professional experience,
his jam-packed résumé could easily
be mistaken for that of a much more
seasoned designer. Since graduating with
an M.A. in Architectural Lighting Design
in 2006, he has presented at more than
10 conferences, won several prestigious
awards, become an accredited Greenstar
Professional from the Australian Green
Building Council and has been promoted
from lighting designer to lighting team
leader at Steensen Varming.
From his first foray in lighting, as a
lighting crew assistant for the International
Istanbul Biennial visual arts
exhibition, to his current role, Ulas has
maintained an experimental edge to
his design, blending architectural lighting
with art and performance. That
approach is evident in both his architectural
lighting, such as the Sydney
Opera House lighting master plan, and
his one-of-a-kind light art, like the recent
“Lumi-Pops” installation at the
University of Technology Sydney.
While Ulas may relish the ethereal
aspects of light, he also knows how to
successfully execute a real project and
counts teamwork as a major tenet of
good design. “If you share the vision and
the mindset of the people you work with,
everything goes smoothly,” says Ulas.
“At Steensen Varming we are a compact
team made up of people with diverse
skills. We learn a lot from each other, we
work on enviable projects and we work
hard. Every opinion is welcomed.”
A FEW KIND WORDS: “Emrah is an
unusually talented artist,” says his mentor,
PLDA president, Dr. Georgios Paissidis.
“He is devoted to the visualization
of myths. Light in his hands is the language
of myths. He is not contented with
a decent lighting design approach and,
as far as I know him, he rather dislikes a
compromise with neutrality. He prefers
risks and accepts adventures. I am certain
that Emrah can enjoyably surprise
us with his works for many years.”
DOWN THE ROAD: Ulas has much on
his to-do list. He hopes to “increase
public awareness of good lighting and
help influence codes and standards in
the field of lighting (most of which date
back to ancient quantitative methods
and don’t really make better spaces
for human beings); do more teaching;
pursue a Ph.D. in lighting; collaborate
with people from other creative industries;
and explore light-as-art and socially
conscious projects.”
Elizabeth Hall
EMRAH BAKI ULAS
STEENSEN VARMING
NORTHBRIDGE,
AUSTRALIA
CAREER CAPSULE
• CIBSE’s Society of Light
and Lighting “Young
Lighters of the Year
2008” Award
• University of Technology
Sydney adjunct lecturer
• Key projects: Art Gallery
of New South Wales,
Sydney; Tasmanian
Museum and Art Gallery;
National Capital Authority,
Kings Avenue lighting
‘One [career
highlight] is to
be involved with
the Sydney
Opera House
lighting master
plan’
LD+A December 2010 57