ABOUT
“Because Design matters…”
Meet Iris Zandberg Ben-Gal
For Iris, Architecture has always been a passion, being influenced by historical surroundings growing up in Europe. It is no surprise that acquiring a formal degree would be in the cards.
With a bachelor’s degree of Interior Architecture from UNC Greensboro, Iris embarked on an Interior design business.
Practicing for twenty years pulled her back to school to obtain her master’s in architecture from the University of Charlotte at NC. Practicing under several firms for a few years led her back home to her own business. Under the same name as previously, Iris now approaches projects with a complete vision of the exterior facade through the envelope and eventually into the interiors.
Iris’ passion in architecture is the use of natural daylight. In her thesis research she delved into strategies of daylight in our built environment. “As practitioner, I do my best to take Daylighting into consideration by orienting the building or structure on the site to take advantage of optimal lighting directions. I understand the interplay of light and space can manipulate them to create settings in which a wide variety of experiences can occur, thus impacting people who inhabit them. I utilize certain techniques and plan ahead to modulate natural light, resulting in the evocation of certain moods without leaving it to chance. The methods of manipulating light I employ, integrate daylighting into the design process, thus intentionally modulating it to evoke certain moods.”
Light and space interact, resulting in human stimulation and the designer can influence those responses.
Practicing architecture is a responsibility. Designers have the accountability to create visually and thermally comfortable spaces. And “Because Design matters…” my team and I go through that process methodically and intentionally, to ensure that outcome.