Ece Calguner Erzan believes that interior design is the act of creating a holistic experience—one that brings the look and feel of the exterior of a building, at the city scale, to the interiors. This perspective guides her work as the lead interior designer for SOM’s New York studio. She approaches her work with the conviction that the big picture is just as important as the smallest detail, and with a passion for the people who will inhabit them every day. She recognizes that interior spaces, where we spend most of our time, should bring us together and enhance our ability to live, learn, and perform at our best.
Every building should be designed from the inside out and from the outside in—to create a curated journey and an integrated experience that’s just as memorable from the interior as it is from the exterior.
In this spirit of interdisciplinary design, Ece often blends the experience from one typology into another—incorporating amenities of hospitality into residential buildings, or designing workspaces with elements of residential comfort. She strives to maximize spatial performance and efficiency while never compromising on aesthetics. With a portfolio that spans across the globe, she has drawn inspiration from each market by integrating local culture into her projects—connecting people to places and elevating the human experience.