DIALOGUE WITH ALEV AKIN

Our guest this month in our “Dialogue” interviews where we chatted on Lighting Design by hosting our industry stakeholders from different disciplines, İŞTE Project Management Co-Founder Architect Alev Akın…

One of the founding partners of İŞTE Project Management, which has been serving the sector in the field of project management for more than 15 years, believes that the investments that will shape the future can be implemented more effectively and more efficiently with stakeholder management devoted to the process, by managing the project in question together with all its stakeholders like an orchestra conductor. We talked to Alev Akın about lighting design.

1. How does light affect your lifestyle in your life, work, or home?

Although the sun is an unlimited source of energy, in the reality of the world we live in, a day is divided into two parts night and day. Light has used during the day and at night. I like to start the day with daylight and wake up. The light in my house is also at sufficient levels during the daytime. I must say that I am lucky in this respect. Natural light is of great importance in the office projects that we manage. Especially in these times when we are talking about 'wellness' criteria as well as energy management requirements. But in housing projects, the situation is a little different. When managing a housing project, empathy is inevitable. For example, the AND Pastel Project we completed recently was a project that varied both in terms of building and flat concept. In this project, there are high-rise buildings as well as low-rise blocks where you can walk to the landscape areas. Undoubtedly, the relationship between the buildings and the sun was changing, depending on the Project's use of space and the layout design. This gave you very different perspectives. I think that during the time we spent on this Project, we inevitably gave a lot of thought to the relation of daylight to the apartments. Light inevitably becomes a factor that determines your comfort in your home. For example, if you live in a house facing the façade that receives direct sunlight, light can turn into a powerful energy source for you and can become unbearable, especially in summer. Then you can start thinking about how to cut the slack. If you are in an apartment at the landscaping level of the Project that I have just mentioned, if you are in the direction of less sun, and if you love plants very much, you may find yourself struggling with how much sun you can catch from which angle. Of course, these are notes about our relationship with light during the daytime... There is also the dark side of the matter after sunset, which is more important to me. It is a vision of life that is somewhat related to the decoration of the house. We need the sun to live. But to illuminate the darkness created by his absence, every touch we make at home is a very important element that adds value and comfort to the part we spend most of our time in. Yes, especially since we spend more time in our homes during this pandemic period, this time is equalized, but within the normal routine of life, if we set aside our holidays, this determines the weight of the house. Although I am directly interested in light during the daytime, I do not prefer to brightly illuminate all parts of the house during the evening and nighttime. I also don't like to see the direct light source... I prefer to have parts of the house that will remain in the dark and be shaded. The light should rest.

2. Which of the following is included in your Lighting Design project/investment? Why?

•        Science

•        Technical

•        Art

While preparing to answer your question, I can't help but think how possible it is to separate these elements from each other. However, if we look at it from the realistic side, our professionalism is to manage an investor's project on one side, while adding value to it, on the other hand, producing optimal solutions with a 'value engineering' approach and being observant. This perspective inevitably brings science and technology to the forefront, which I think are closely related to each other. Investment budgets are very low and often determined by the requirements of the main structural disciplines. We both prefer to work with expert consultants in each of our projects and recommend them to our investors. Each consultant has a contribution to the Projects and is necessary. In this order, the Lighting Consultant usually enters the train from the last carriage or participates by means of remote communication. I'm trying to explain how the process works. Including the work that depends on the legal regulations can be easily overcome to a certain extent. While the lighting issue is measured with energy performance on one side, it is a comfort issue that gives an aesthetic element to the building on the other side. Today, since awareness is more focused on energy performance, everything from the type of luminaire to be used to the type of lighting, in a way, is of interest to the enterprise. These issues have come to the fore in the general, parking lot, landscape and facade lighting designs of the major projects we have been involved in in recent years. When you try to add an artistic value to your project, both the investment and operating costs of the tools you need to use can increase. For this reason, you have to turn to the use of technological elements that will provide maximum benefit with as little investment as possible. However, it is important to observe an aesthetic concern here as well.

3. Do you think Architectural Lighting Design can add value to the project? 

I just tried to touch on that a little bit earlier. Within the scope of Project Management, which we believe in and maintain, there is an understanding that all the requirements of a Project are on the table with the stakeholders. Value emerges from the harmonious coordination of these elements. We both say what should be at that table and manage their harmony and coordination. In this way, we ensure that the Project becomes valuable. It is possible to see the reflections of this in all the work that we left behind and are in. As I just mentioned, there are two types of values. This may be related to its built-in usage in our language, but it corresponds to different meanings. A Project has an investment budget. However, the value of the resulting product is many times higher than the investment cost. Undoubtedly, some factors determine this. The location of the land, its use, who is the investor, of course, which architectural office it was designed by, other engineering designs and calculations, what is included in its scope, who the contractor is, what materials are used, what kind of construction technologies are used, whether it is a green building, etc... All When you list them one after the other, your investment budget may seem to increase on paper. However, it should not be overlooked that each of them both contributes to the Project and makes it valuable. The most critical part here is to ensure the coordination between all these, and most importantly, to know how to put the vision of acting with “value-oriented” in front of you. Value engineering should not be understood as saving money for the project. Value engineering in a project starts with building the right teams with the right stakeholders. Agile approaches and technology-based knowledge management practices are now inevitable so that these teams, which will create value with the collective mind, do not succumb to the inefficiencies that the industry is accustomed to.

It should not be forgotten that the lighting design is not just a fixture arrangement, but fulfills a design requirement with its science-art and technical parameters. How about embodying the question of whether it adds value or not, by looking at the buildings and spaces that are designed to be illuminated at the city scale or that are only illuminated?

4. What do you think the process of working with the Lighting Designer contributed to you as an investor/manager?

The investor has a dream. Most of the time it is an idea rather than a visualized image. If we are acting in a correct Project Management approach, he will open this idea to you. You enable designers who will produce alternative concepts to develop this idea and present it to the investor. We, as Project Managers, find the elements that understand the Project and are willing to work, and open the way to act with them. Every Project we work on is added to our professional life as an experience. There, we not only refresh our knowledge but also learn new information, technologies, perspectives, and new interpretations of techniques and regulations. As we experience how a lighting designer can differentiate the architectural project on the table, we begin to worry about 'soullessness' when it probably doesn't. As the lighting design inspires both the designer and the investor, the spirit of the project begins to settle.