Interviews with Kurt Orkun Aktas

This design was among a series of interior details that I had produced for a corporate firm in 2017. At the time I was in search of an elegant light fixture and thought it best to design the piece instead of buying already built items.

I wanted and I think that I have achieved two goals during the design phase. first of all I wanted the lightsource to be centered 50cm away from the wall, secondly I wanted to achieve the lightest framework to support it. I had designed certain decorative elements on the wall so this fixture was aimed to look like a valuable jewelry on the already decorated wall.

This design has been produced and is in use in Turkey's biggest pastry shop in Ankara. This design has also been awarded by A' Design and has gained international recognition. The next step for this design would be to design the family of fixtures for this design pattern and to do this in various unit colors.

This design was prepared within an hours' time, within the duration of four months of site contract efforts.

The formation of the design had been totally intuitive. I had already prepared a language of design for the interior space and instead of selecting a readily made fixture, designing the unit and having it manufactured seemed to be the best choice.

The design rights of this product belong to me. I have registered the design rights of the product in Turkey.

No, the item was manufactured strictly according to my shop drawings

The target customer is A+ segment of restaurants, bakeries or other similar commercial enterprises.

The design is a mixture of humble but yet elegant materials and finishes in a similar manner to jewelry design.

I used a simple paper and a pen at the site and then prepared the manufacture drawings in AutoCAD.

After the design was finished the light fixtures were manufactured by a light fixture producing firm in İstanbul.

The linear design language in which the fixture was designed had been used in the design of walls, ceilings, furniture, refrigerated cabinet fronts and doors.

We had to hand-produce the glass cylinder as there were no existing parts that matched our requirements. This had its effects on both the price and the manufactury duration of the whole product.

I had put so much effort in the design of the facility that I thought it deserved better recognition. I chose A' Design solely and presented my works. I am content from the results of this almost year-long duration of the competition's meticulous efforts.

I would like to thank in special, the owner of the facility Mr. Reyhan Haciosmanoglu for his continuous support through all stages of the process, who has made possible all that has been built. My only deepest regret has been that unfortunately, Mr. Haciosmanoglu who had been a dear friend of mine, did not live long enough to see this significant achievement. He had passed away in February 2020. Undoubtedly, this award would have made him proud from all that we had achieved together.

I have graduated from university as an industrial designer. My master’s degree and my doctorate degrees are in interior architecture. During my professional career of 26 years, I have worked on interiors and also have produced a significant amount of product designs.

I have always perceived the design process as a methodology to improve life. Whichever activity that takes place under the definition of design has always given inspiration to create what has not yet been done.

It had been my personal goal to be engaged with design as a profession, beginning from the earlier years of my life.

I design interiors mainly. I also design furniture and lighting fixtures for these interiors.

The biggest role of success is in continuous work efforts.

Time is the best determinant of success in design. If the design effort does not fade in time, but rather maintains a relative status of appreciation; then this design effort may rightfully be defined as good design.

Investing in good design improves lives of people. Good design is a goal but not a final point in time. I believe that appreciation of good design efforts improve and determine the life quality of individuals.

We are a generation who grew up looking up to the works of Philippe Starck. I believe that his perspective to design matters and of his responsabilities as a designer have been unique.

I like to think that the best design is the one that I have not yet drawn. The next job, the next site and the next customer are the motivations I reserve for my future.

Life experiences offer great solution alternatives while designing. I like to try new things and gain new experiences. I find that these experiences are crucial in the design of the new.

I have always perceived the design process as a methodology to improve life. Whichever activity that takes place under the definition of design has always given inspiration to create what has not yet been done.

There is a time in everyones life where experience builds up. That is the time to embrace new experiences and the time to try to take everything in. After a critical threshold, the design thoughts become more apparent quicker and a time where the designer gives back what he has absorbed begins.

This journey in design realm is in progress at the moment. I would like to invite all those interested in design, to accompany me in my self-journey in design.

I think that the design community should be better organized and better informed. The loose ties among designers and the view interpreting each another as rivals in competition diminishes any effect designers wish to create. I would like to see an improved amount of peer collaboration among colleagues.

We are living in interesting times where it is perceived that visuals supplied from various social media platforms could replace designers. Every mobile phone is perceived as a tool by common people to help them make decisions regarding their design needs. Whatever may the reason be for such actions, it is always crucial to incorporate an experienced designer in the process of designing. Issues like material selection and color use are matters that impede final results of designs if selected poorly.

My design activity starts with extensive research. During this phase I do not draw. The research might take days or sometimes weeks. After research phase is done and I have no more questions to answer to myself, I prepare the preliminary design approximately within an hour.

I work from larger scale to smaller scale. I always start with research, then move on determining function, user groups, gender. Then I move on to details.

Never suggest what I can not fulfill.

Trends are visualized with design objects. Similarly I believe that groups of designs are used to formulate design trends.

Technological tools are undoubtedly major utilities used while designing and visualizing design.

All these criteria are vital in any design. The designs are determined as successful only when these aspects are combined in their correct values.

They might wonder about color or material alternatives of my design. I would like to express gratitude for their curiosity.

I start to evaluate how I would have dealt with the matter and further evaluate what my design would look like.

I believe in the value of exchanging ideas with experts and reaching a synergy is important in any good design.

I have always tried to make my designs while keeping in mind the necessary manufactury specifications.

I feel that all the awards and recognition has placed large responsibility on my shoulders. It feels magnific.

In one of my construction sites, where work was rapidly progressing; I had found it more practical to continue to work at the site. However it was winter, I was in open air and soon enough I realized that I had to rotate myself around a single heater in order not to freeze. Additionally, coming too close to the heater would burn me and being too far away I would feel cold. I remember thinking that determining the correct proximity to the heater was also an important design parameter.

Hearing my name being mentioned and responding to greetings from peers and colleagues boasts my confidence.

These current times where the whole planet is encountering the Covid outbreak, has taught us all valuable lessons in life. What had been our normals until yesterday do not exist any more. We are all experiencing conditions that we all are obliged to adapt to. If these are the current state of conditions, then in a thousand years from now I believe the only thing still valuable will be the merit in creative thinking.

I have graduated from university as an industrial designer. My master’s degree and my doctorate degrees are in interior architecture. During my professional career of 26 years, I have worked on interiors and also have produced a significant amount of product designs.

Aktas PCC is a prolific firm specialized in interior design applications. Design studies are made by firm owner K. Orkun Aktas. After initial design is complete then visualization and application stages are carried out to create unique interiors.

I have always perceived the design process as a methodology to improve life. Whichever activity that takes place under the definition of design has always given inspiration to create what has not yet been done.

I like to create projects for commercial and social areas; whether it is a restaurant, a cafe or a store.

The very first thing that I had designed in my office was a retail system for small electrical appliances of a major company’s retail points throughout Turkey. It was the design, manufacture and fitting of the system. The whole duration had been immensely educational and beneficial on my behalf.

I believe that a designed object or a space is at its best state when it is relieved from all unnecessary clutter. So when a design is both functional and yet simplistic enough, then it is near reaching my design criterias.

I undergo a feeling of respect towards the design task. This feeling is directed towards the customer, then the design itself and my contribution to the process.

The realization of a design is not always necessarily the end of the design process. The realization of the design is to make your own views publicly recognized. After realization, it is always an enlightening experience to gather feedbacks from others.

A design can be called successful when it is both functional and when it is in accordance with the design intention.

Our role in society is to improve people’s lives. As for the environment; certain sustainability issues must be dealt with thus referencing certain eco-friendly materials is a wise option.

Improvements in technology, materials and manufacturing systems have led to increasing amounts of personalization in both products and spaces. Manufacturers will need to take this change in consumer trends into consideration in future production perspectives.

I find using materials and techniques devised for certain purposes to be used in different contexts to be a rich experimenting field. The use of these existing materials and techniques bring out a creative synergy that positively effects overall design.

I believe that the most important part of the whole design process is the pre-design research phase. My main approach is to start designing after having evaluated existing products in the market, customer requests and technical necessities. All that is seen as the eventual design is always a solution to existing problems.

I live in Ankara, the capital and the birthplace of the Republic of Turkey. Ankara is Turkey’s second biggest city after İstanbul. It is a well organized city that is a balanced mixture of industrial, residential and commercial areas. All designs we produce in this city are of international standards and are positive contributions to the cultural heritage of the city.

The design process is in fact a mutual process. The relationship between the firms and the designers must be based on trust and transparency. Firms ought to be open to criticisms regarding their existing products and services. All parties should be open-minded to the creative process and aim to improve collaboration.

I try to reserve an important amount of my time to academic literature reviews. The rest is spent on daily tasks and family.

I believe honesty is the golden rule in design. Honesty to the design, to the customer, design team and honesty in use of materials is of great importance

My design activity starts with extensive research. During this phase I do not draw. The research might take days or sometimes weeks. After research phase is done and I have no more questions to answer to myself, I prepare the preliminary design approximately within an hour.

I have quite a number of corporate customers. Namely, YKM, Alstom, Ziraat Bank, Liva İncek, Ayeses Defence, Directorate General of Land Registry and Cadastre, Koleksiyon Furniture, Houston Hotel, Turkish-American Association are some of the more recognized ones.

I have had the opportunity to work on various projects ranging from bank branches to residential projects. So this has led to a wide scope of references. With each different project requirement, I have studied, learned and designed accordingly. I believe this has prepared me to become ready for a variety of projects. Instead of a being limited to single line of design, I have found it more professionally satisfying to work on different project scales and types.

I believe in the power of design to shape the future of humanity. I will continue to design and widen my personal network of designers via A-Design.

People curious about my works can send an email to aktasproje@gmail.com for further information. My personal web page is currently under construction