Iris Ahn

Background

About Iris Ahn

Iris’ design inspiration comes from experiencing various qualities of light through her adventures out in nature and the close association to human experience and behavior. Her passion is using lighting design as a tool to bridge the gap between the built environment and its surrounding landscape by exploring the threshold between interior and exterior spaces in its relation to human perception. With her background in urban design, Iris' design strides for bringing positive social, institutional, environmental, and economic impacts to the world. Iris brings a wide range of projects collaborating with award winning architecture firms. She also pursued her interest in sustainability by taking a role as a UNSDGs/ sustainability champion for the Americas Region during her time at Arup. Originally from New York, Iris received her B.A. in Urban Design from New York University and M.F.A. in Lighting Design from Parsons The New School for Design in 2018. Her thesis work explores the relationship between existing street lighting conditions and perceived level of safety at Jacob Riis Houses and received Parsons Lighting Design Partners Thesis Prize. Ahn is a Certified Lighting Professional, member of IES, IALD, and certified LEED Green Associate. When she is not practicing lighting design, she enjoys traveling to different parts of the world and immersing herself in nature.