Culture vs. Trends - Siddharth Mathur

Summary

LytePod Episode Summary

Episode: Culture vs. Trends - Siddharth Mathur
Host: Sam Corble ("Lytei")
Guest: Siddharth Mathur ("Sedar")
Date: February 10, 2026

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Main Theme / Purpose

This episode delves into the intricate interplay between culture, trends, and the evolving language of lighting design, with a focus on how context, client expectations, social media, and generational shifts shape both architecture and lighting. Set in Dubai, the conversation explores globalization, uniformity vs. authenticity, the designer’s role as both creative and service provider, and the enduring challenge of balancing artistic vision with client needs.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Influence of Social Media & Globalization

• Social media is driving client expectations, presenting both opportunities and challenges for designers.
• Trends are increasingly global, creating uniformity but risking the "death of design” through monotony.
• Quote:
  • “Uniformity is the death of design. So there has to be a balance that has to be met.” – Sedar [08:34]
• Designers now face “Pinterest boards” as briefs, sometimes limiting originality but also requiring a nuanced approach to client desires and cultural context.

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2. Culture as Driver and Product of Design

• Culture shapes perception, preference, and aesthetic ([05:23]), which in turn shape design outcomes.
• Dubai illustrates a rapid evolution from ostentatious luxury to "understated" and "barefoot luxury", reflecting both local and global influences ([16:02]).
• Architecture and design act both as expressions of culture and as forces that shape culture:
  • “Design is actually what creates the culture … because we are in such a connected world.” – Sam [26:21]
  • “Does culture define architecture? Yes, it does. But when you come up with architecture that doesn't belong … it weaves itself into the fabric there. So both influence each other in equal parts. It’s a perfect marriage.” – Sedar [51:28]

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3. Generational Shifts in Lighting Expectations

• Age and generation play a key role in lighting preferences:
  • Older generations desire more uniform, brighter light and focus on functional aspects.
  • Younger generations favor intimate, moody, "Instagrammable" lighting, prioritizing atmosphere over technical performance ([17:41]).
• Memorable anecdote:
  • “You know, the heart wants what it wants. ... Sometimes as a designer, it is quite disheartening that you put in so much effort to give them something that you think is right, but unless they want it, doesn’t matter.” – Sedar [22:30]

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4. Balancing Client Desires and Creative Integrity

• Designers have a “moral obligation to the client,” not just their own artistic ambitions ([10:59], [26:02]).
• Sometimes must compromise when clients want trends over context or Pinterest over originality; other times are challenged to convince or educate clients on better possibilities.
• “We are not artists. We do not have full creative freedom. Our most important moral obligation is to our client to give them something of value within the parameters that they define.” – Sedar [11:53]
• The best projects are those with receptive clients willing to try something authentic or offbeat.

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5. The Human Side of Design Practice

• Cultural sensitivity comes from person-to-person connections rather than remote design ([38:53]).
  • “You cannot just be sitting behind your computer monitors. ... It's extremely important to go out there, talk to people, just interact. ... Really, the secret of the source is going down to the basics and understanding people.” – Sedar [38:53]
• Commercial projects bring their own “subculture” — companies or developers become the collective “client,” each with distinct expectations.

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6. Lighting’s Role: Embellishment & Identity

• Lighting is rarely the "leader"—it's typically the “makeup artist,” enhancing the architectural “face” but limited by late involvement or constraints ([34:03], [52:21]).
• Joke/analogy:
  • “We are makeup artists, but if your girlfriend is not very good looking to begin with, there's only as much I can do, right?” – Sedar [34:24]
• Lighting’s influence on culture or experience is often indirect, highly dependent on context, collaboration, and timing.

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7. The Emotional Toll — and Reward — of Design

• Designers face exhaustion and frustration navigating culture, trends, and varied preferences ([45:25]), but are ultimately driven by passion for the craft.
• Quote:
  • “This is not for the faint hearted. ... This is a marathon. This is AN IRONMAN Times 4.” – Sedar [45:32]
• The pride comes in realizing even a small, personal idea within a bigger project, especially when doing something new or unexpected—like the outdoor chandelier in South Africa ([47:14]).

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “Uniformity is the death of design. So there has to be a balance that has to be met.”

  • Sedar [08:34]

• “We are not artists. ... Our most important moral obligation is to our client to give them something of value within the parameters that they define.”

  • Sedar [11:53]

• “Everyone wants their homes to look like the most recent hotel … or a home in Miami or Barbados, and bring that here to Dubai.”

  • Sedar [13:23]

• “The culture of Dubai now today is very different. It is all about materials, understated luxury, this whole concept of barefoot luxury.”

  • Sedar [16:02]

• “I always say with lighting, seeing is believing.”

  • Sedar [30:36]

• “You cannot just be sitting behind your computer monitors. … Really, the secret of the source is going down to the basics and understanding people.”

  • Sedar [38:53]

• “This is not for the faint hearted. ... This is AN IRONMAN Times 4.”

  • Sedar [45:32]

• “One man's sparkle is another man's glare.”

  • Sedar [54:12]

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [03:37] Dubai's Urban & Lighting Evolution
• [05:23] Culture, Perception, and Design
• [08:34] The Risks of Uniformity
• [13:23] Trends vs. Authenticity
• [16:02] Shifting Dubai Aesthetics
• [17:41] Generational Lighting Preferences
• [30:36] Importance of Visualization
• [34:03] Lighting as Makeup Artist/Matchmaker
• [38:53] Human Connection in Design
• [45:32] Emotional Demands of the Field
• [47:14] South Africa Chandelier Project
• [51:28] Culture & Architecture’s Mutual Influence
• [54:12] Final Philosophy of Light & Culture

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Conclusion

Siddharth Mathur and host Sam Corble vividly unpack the shifting sands between culture, trend, and the enduring challenge of designing with both in mind—especially through the “makeup” of lighting. The conversation underscores that context, humanity, and authenticity remain vital, even in a world driven by viral imagery and fast-moving visual expectations. As the episode closes, Sedar’s reminder—“One man’s sparkle is another man’s glare”—captures both the subjectivity and opportunity at the heart of lighting design.

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For anyone interested in the intersection of culture, client, and creativity in contemporary design (especially lighting), this episode offers both practical insights and thoughtful reflection in a vibrant, candid tone.

Transcript

[Sam Corble]

What is social media doing for lighting design?

[Sedar]

A lot. We work in a region where our clients expect to see what they are going to get. It is all about materials, understated luxury, this whole concept of barefoot luxury. They're trying to, you know, make it a lot more contextual. I'm seeing a generational shift in culture and, and hence the appreciation for design.

[Sam Corble]

So design is actually at the top of the pyramid all of a sudden.

[Sedar]

It is not lighting design that is at the top of the pyramid. Yet with architecture, interior design, absolutely. Because everybody wants to search out the

[Sam Corble]

latest trends because we are in such a connected world.

[Sedar]

It's definitely less malleable than before. But it is not all doom and gloom. If we designing a resort in Maldives vs US designing a resort in the Masai Mara in Kenya or us designing a resort in Dubai on Palm Jumeirah or the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia, the context of that place has to reflect in the visual aspect of the design. But all in all, this is not for the faint hearted. This is a marathon. This is AN IRONMAN Times 4. It doesn't matter what we think. Most important moral obligation is to our client.

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[Sam Corble]

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[Sam Corble]

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[Sam Corble]

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[Sam Corble]

Welcome to the Light Pod built by Lie Die, the number one podcast about the people, the process and the product of design. All with a little love for light along the way. I'm your host Sam Corble and today we're in Dubai. There's so much that's happened in this city around construction and architecture. Today we're here to dive in and unpack a little bit more about what drives design when it comes to culture. When it comes to architecture, when it comes to lighting, of course, how does that all mash together and how do you operate in it and then how does it influence everything? Sigart, thank you so much for inviting me to Dubai. It's great to be here. Welcome to the podcast.

[Sedar]

Welcome to Dubai, Sam.

[Sam Corble]

I appreciate it. It's, it's fun. It's incredibly exciting to be here.

[Sedar]

Is it what you thought it would be?

[Sam Corble]

That's a hard question to answer because I've only been here like 14 hours. It's been dark for most of it.

[Sedar]

But quite a few people who come to Dubai for the first time are just amazed at how bright it is at night. If you look at the highways and all of the infrastructure and the level of lighting and uniformity that you see here is not seen in many parts of the world. So for many people, that is something that, you know, floors them straight away is to see the brightness and all of the lights. And hopefully our design community is responsible for quite a lot of it.

[Sam Corble]

So just to like, you know, date the context of your experience. You told me earlier today the pilings were being drilled for the Burj Khalifa.

[Sedar]

Exactly.

[Sam Corble]

Crazy, Massive, hundred story tall skyscraper like that wasn't even out of the ground. And of course, it's standing tall today with maybe 30 or 40 buildings around

[Sedar]

it, probably more at last count.

[Sam Corble]

There's the buckets of design funding design, and then of course, practicing design and then experiencing all of that. When you look at the broad spectrum of that culture drives our experience. Culture drives so much of what we think. What to you is the connection between culture, architecture and design?

[Sedar]

When you try and dissect culture, culture influences perception, preference, and aesthetic. Right? These are the, these are the three things that that culture influences. And that in turn has a knock on effect on what you expect from a design, because design, again, is a sum total of your aesthetic appeal, preferences, and the way you use space generally. We were having this conversation earlier about how, you know, the culture is evolving and changing as well. When I first moved here 21 years ago, Dubai was still a cosmopolitan city, but not as cosmopolitan as it is now. It was culturally different and today it is culturally very different. It is again, something that you can't put your finger to because it is constantly evolving, it's constantly changing. And all these different nationalities, people from different backgrounds, when they come into what is truly a melting potential, creates another culture in its own right. And everybody has a different preference and a different sense of aesthetics. However, what we've also seen in recent times Is all of this converging with the advent of social media, with the advent of people traveling a lot more and becoming more international, if you understand what I mean, that their expectations and preferences are becoming very similar. So we are, you know, in a very, very interesting time right now because there's almost. I'm seeing a generational shift in culture, and hence the. The appreciation for design and. And the overall aesthetic expectation from spaces that. That we are designing and working on.

[Sam Corble]

When you think about that. That internationality that you speak of and people becoming influenced by multiple locations, you speak of a convergence.

[Sponsor/Host Voice]

Does.

[Sam Corble]

Does this identity of culture and architecture and design all converging together make the world a bigger stage for what's going to dominate it or. Or what's happening there?

[Sedar]

Well, that's a very loaded question, Sam. I mean, don't worry.

[Sam Corble]

I'm ready.

[Sedar]

No. I mean, yes and no. I mean, the conversion of culture that we are seeing right now to a certain extent, is desirable because it becomes a little easier for designers like us to understand the expectation from our clients whom we are designing these spaces for. Essentially, we are able to put, like, say, finger on the pulse to understand what they want. But there is also a large downside in the sense that that brings in a bit of a monotonous feel to the design, because everybody wants everything to look similar. And I believe uniformity is the death of design. So there has to be a balance that has to be met, and you are not able to achieve that balance every day, if you know what I mean. We work on these projects every day, so certain days, we feel are very successful because we've been able to balance it out and still meet client expectations and come up with a good product. But on certain days, one feels frustrated, saying that they just want what they had last year or three years ago or what they're seeing on their Pinterest board today. So that is the less exciting part. And I think every job has two faces. One is the more vibrant and dynamic, enriching, engaging aspect. And then there's also what I call the bread and butter that you need to go through the motion and run with it. So I think we try and balance both of this. But what is very interesting from my point of view also, that this is not something that is specific only to Dubai or the Middle East. This is happening the world over. This convergence can be seen in multiple places around the world. I mean, when I travel around the world, I see it happening. I see it happening in Europe, I see it happening in Asia. I see Some of it happening in the US as well. So I think it's a very interesting time because the pot is being churned, like I say, at the moment. So, yeah, so let's see what comes

[Sam Corble]

out of it when you talk about the internationality of it. See, the world is becoming a more influential environment than it has ever been before. Yet at the same time, there's a profession behind design of maybe breaking that or getting to the core of that to then become artistic interpreter with it. Do you feel like. Do you feel like that ability to be artistic and interpret with design is less malleable today based on the ability to provide more direct inspiration through the influence they're receiving?

[Sedar]

It's definitely less malleable than before, for sure. There's clearly no doubt about that. But it is not all doom and gloom. We still have people that come to us and clients that tell us that our brief is to create something authentic for the place that you're designing to, whether it is here in the Middle east or is it in Africa or in India or wherever, and that they do not want to, you know, necessarily follow any trends that are ongoing right now because they want to create something that is timeless, and those are the most juicy projects to actually work on, you know. And so, like I said, yeah, I think it's. It's about managing a balance between. Between these. Between these projects and working with these multiple client directions. And then we also have clients who tell us when we first ask for a briefing meeting, they tell us that, yeah, we can have the meeting, but let me send you my Pinterest board first so you know what I want. And then I'm, like, scratching my head thinking, okay, this doesn't look too good. Okay, this is one aspect. The other aspect of it is we are professional designers. It is our job to understand the brief and the vision of the client and work within it to give them something of value. So I also feel there is another side to this coin, is that we cannot become too opinionated about the briefs of our client. If that's what they want, so be it. You know, I have to constantly remind myself and remind my team about the fact that we are not artists. We do not have full creative freedom of being able to do whatever we want to do based on our sensibilities. But our most important moral obligation is to our client to give them something of value. Like I said, within the parameters that they define. Right? We can nudge them. We can try and show them an alternate way, but if they don't see Value in. Doesn't matter what we think.

[Sam Corble]

What do you think sets the tone for culture and design right now?

[Sedar]

I think the tone at the moment is set very, very strongly by social media. As I said before, it is about what they are seeing on social media, the travel, the places that they are visiting. You know, especially we see a lot of that in residential design, where people want their homes to look like the most recent hotel that they stayed at, or it needs to look like a home in Miami or Barbados, for example, and bring that here to Dubai. We see a lot of that happening in hospitality design because we do a lot of work in the hospitality sector is where operator guidelines sometimes override creative vision. Also, we see it happening a lot in corporate offices. So if you go to a corporate office of one of the top tech giants or one of these big companies, no matter where they are in the world, they all look and feel the same. But I see the sense of it because they want to make sure that their workforce globally receives the same asset in terms of facility. But it does create a bit of uniformity.

[Sam Corble]

But Dubai kind of has this mirage of just like this ultra luxury gold everywhere. Fancy cars, nice things, high end materials. Obviously this was a desert and none of that was here. So that's a. That's a perspective of culture, right? Creating this image of wealth, this image of, as you said, these fancy things that nobody's seen before. And then on the other hand, you brought up the corporate office, you know, the Four Seasons, the Ritz Carlton, maybe even just a good old Marriott, right, where it's a brand. And by creating that style guide, it guarantees a certain experience, right? There's two very different paths there. An experience that you can only get one place versus an experience that you're guaranteed to get no matter where you go. Both of those are culturally driven, right? Catering either to the occupant, no matter where they are, or catering directly to where you are and being able to adapt. Is that fair to say?

[Sedar]

No, it is definitely. That's exactly how it is. And I'll tell you, the. The gold and the flashy aesthetic that you're talking about, that was synonymous to Dubai, was something that was a thing to do 20 years ago when I first came here. And I've seen the Dubai esthetic evolving as well. So the aesthetic of Dubai now today is very different. It is all about materials, understated luxury. You know, this whole concept of barefoot luxury that's coming in where you want to be true to, to the location where you are in trying to, you know, make it a lot more contextual. A lot of that is what is happening right now. So I think we've long gone from the days of gold plated streets with a gold plated Ferrari running on them, you know, that aesthetic again. And maybe that was a cultural expectation of that generation. But the generation of today is very international. They are very well traveled, they understand what an international experience needs to be brought into this city.

[Sam Corble]

I feel like we're starting to stack a layer cake of everything that culture is, right? It's the location, it's the experience, it's the age at a period in time. Right? 50 years old in 2020 versus 50 years old in 2050 is going to be different.

[Sedar]

Absolutely.

[Sam Corble]

So culture is this ever changing thing. Where does lighting come into all of this?

[Sedar]

There is no denying the fact that for most part of the world it is still something that is new or lighting design is something that is new. Everyone has expectation of what they want the lighting to be like and function based on their culture, based on their heritage and of course their age. What I have seen in my practice working in different regions and in different parts of the world is a large dependence on your background that affects it. So while there is that difference that comes into play based on culture, it is also very, very similar in different parts of the world. The expectations of a 55 or 60 year old person when it comes to lighting in Dubai may not necessarily be very different from a 60 year old in Africa or a 60 year old in India. They intrinsically want spaces that are more uniform, a brighter level of lighting, good color rendering indexes, you know, so they don't want it to feel too moody. And, and, and the emphasis on accent ratios and as, as lighting designers, we always talk about contrast and accent ratios and those to be non existent almost. So, so culturally these people may be very different, but their expectations are the same. And similarly, 18 to 35 year old, whether in Dubai or in Africa or in India, will have a very similar expectation and that would be governed by what they are seeing on social media today. So they will want things to be very intimate, very moody because they can flaunt it. They can take pictures of these spaces and put them on social media. You know, look what my house looks like and this is what my pool looks like, this is what my garden looks like and that will be a very international aesthetic. So their emphasis will be less on what the lighting does technically, but more on the artistic side of lighting and how lighting is used to make my spaces creatively. Look good, whereas the previous generation would have probably a lesser emphasis on the creative aspect of lighting, but more on the technical aspect. Of course there are differences and exceptions in each category, but largely this is what you would find.

[Sam Corble]

And when you look at lighting as maybe being that creative aspect versus the technical fundamental side of it is the architecture that that style of lighting goes to reflected in that same sense.

[Sedar]

It doesn't. It doesn't. But as far as our clients are concerned, it doesn't have to. So it's a challenge to make them understand that you can't have lighting that contradicts the look and feel of the space. But I can tell you it's not a battle we win easily or we win every day we lose more than we win, to be very honest with you. So, I mean, we are designing a house right now in dubai for a 70 year old client of ours and his only brief is that I don't want the lighting to relate to my interior design at all. I just want 450 lux and make it as uniform as you possibly can because that is the age he's in. You know, he just wants to make sure that he can see clearly. Yeah. And he took me to his, to the house that he's currently living in. Very well designed. He took me to his bedroom and he showed me this is the lighting that I've got. And at brightest intensity, that room resembled a hotel room. Okay, so it was very moody, intimate, amazing. You look at a photograph and you, you, anyone would say that's brilliant lighting for that space. But he says when I need to pack for my flight at 4:00 in the morning, I can't see, you know, so that is what he wants. So now you tell me, does that space need to relate more to what his, what the designer's vision was or should it relate to the function that this elderly gentleman wants and needs? You know, so of course it needs to be it. The easy answer is that it needs to be flexible and needs to be able to cater to both. And that's fine. But, but you can't negate the fact that this is what the client wants. You know, we had another client telling us when we were explaining three different scenes in his lounge that these are the three scenes that we've got. This is what you can use when you know, you're, it's an everyday setting. We've also got a mood setting when you are entertaining. And he says, no, no, I don't need that. And I was like, why? This is generally we we propose this or we, we set it up so that when you have guests over, when you entertain, he was like, no, I don't entertain anybody. Nobody is going to come into this space. I just want one setting which should be at full intensity. That's what he wants. You know, the heart wants what it wants. You know, there's nothing you can do about it. So, okay, fine, but I mean, we did our job. We gave him the three scenes, we gave him what we thought his space needed. But if that's not what he wants, it doesn't matter. And it's sometimes as a designer, it is quite disheartening that you put in so much effort. You do all the work to give them something that you think is right, but unless they want, doesn't matter.

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[Sedar]

So for me, partly as a business owner as well, the client expectations are paramount. They have to be met because we are in the business of providing a service and that service has to be, you know, at a certain level of acceptance.

[Sam Corble]

I think originally in my mind, culture can drive design, but I think I might be thinking about it the other way now. Design is actually what creates the culture. To your point, like a design is created. It goes on Pinterest, it goes on Instagram, it goes on, goes on Tik Tok, goes viral. It goes viral. Everybody wants it, Everybody wants it. So design is actually at the top of the pyramid all of a sudden because we are in such a connected world. I'm not making that as a statement. I guess I'm, I'm curious what you think.

[Sedar]

No, you are absolutely right. But unfortunately it is not lighting design that is at the top of the pyramid yet with architecture, interior design. Absolutely. Because everybody wants to search out the latest trends in both these fashion design for sure. I don't think anybody is looking for the latest trend in lighting design. And even if you were to go to TikTok right now and search for latest trends, or maybe we should do that as a, as an exercise, search up latest trends in lighting design, all you will see is the latest tripod mount with, with the ring light on it and. Right. And, and one that can change color and one that can make you look really beautiful when you're on a video call or when you're shooting your reels. So unfortunately at the moment that's what's trending and that's what's people. Largely people's perception about lighting design is. But it's not.

[Sam Corble]

You bring up something interesting there though, and I feel like we've got to go down the rabbit hole. You know, what is social media doing for lighting design? If everybody all of a sudden understands they want to look pretty and beautiful on social media and TikTok and they're all investing in ring lights or lights better than what's on your camera. There's an opportunity there, I feel like, for people to say, hey, lighting matters for how good I look. How do you get people to understand, well, not only can lighting make you look Better, but can make the environment you're in look better because that's really what you're in the business of.

[Sedar]

The opportunity exists if you are able to convince a user that a lighting design in your space will not only make the space look good, but make you look good in it when you're shooting a reel or when you're shooting a video. And that's a hard sell. And it's also a very difficult thing to achieve because the lighting that will make the room look good might be very moody, might be very high in contrast, which will make you look very bad on camera, to be honest. Right. So it's very difficult to achieve. And lighting that will make you look good will not be the right lighting for the space. So I think that is very difficult to achieve. What we can do though is to actually utilize social media in a way to promote good design practices and talk more about what is a good design, what is desirable and what is undesirable. But then, I mean, we have these discussions internally also. The moment you start defining what is undesirable, you can't do that because what is undesirable to me might be exactly what you want. So it becomes very, very muddy, you know, because you can't start telling people what to expect or you can't start telling people what they need unless you're Steve Jobs. But that's a different story.

[Sam Corble]

How much do you feel like you have to show someone in, in the world, in the sphere of lighting and the cultural expectations they have to get them to buy into it a lot.

[Sedar]

I mean, we work in a region where our clients expect a lot. They expect to see what they are going to get. And I always say with lighting, seeing is believing. You know, we've gone through the process so many times where I felt that our ideas were rejected purely because they were not understood properly. People don't read black and white drawings, they can't understand sketches, they can't visualize. So we've as a business invested very heavily into creating a team that works on these renderings and visualizations to actually, truly show them what is it that we are going to deliver. And that has been very well received. However, it is a double edged sword because then you need to really have the wherewithal to make sure that the spaces do turn out like you envisaged or like you, like you promised and the monkeys on my back then. But it's a challenge that we've graciously accepted. But yes, it is a very, very important part. And to Be honest. I have also felt that there has been a better appreciation of the work we do. When it is presented this way. People are able to, you know, the feedback that we get is, no, no, now I understand exactly what you mean, and this is good. I like it. Or now I know what you mean, but this is not what I want, which is great. Both of these are successful outcomes. You know, we want to ensure that our ideas are understood correctly because unless they are understood, there will be no emotional buy in from the client, because unless they are invested emotionally in it and they feel this is cool, let's do it. You will never have the, the budget or the resources that you need to deliver something like that.

[Sam Corble]

That culture is either unique to that instance or that that culture is unique to that experience and therefore may actually just be everywhere.

[Sedar]

Yeah, and in the. Yeah. And also in context of, you know, large developers, they have a culture of their own. And every development company has a different culture and a different sense of aesthetic in terms of what they expect their developments to look like, because they also want to make sure that they're putting the best foot forward and, you know, providing the biggest bang for the buck for the, for the people that are going to buy these properties and live in them as well. So. So that is more. There's a slight corporatization of culture over there, so you can probably classify that as a subculture because this is not something that you are building for yourself, but you are building to sell for somebody else, you know, and somebody else, which is, you know, the average man on the street is buying into your cultural vision or your, your design esthetic that is going to be provided.

[Sam Corble]

Where are moments that you feel like lighting shows up and really does start to define and create that influence? Because you're leading versus something bigger is leading and you're fitting into it

[Sedar]

largely with lighting design. It is about fitting into the overall scheme of things. So the work we do has to relate to the architecture and the interior design. So, I mean, the architect is the mother of the project. There's no denying that. So whatever we do, we need to come in at the end and try and embellish it. Try and improve the experience or improve the nighttime experience that. That happens. I mean, one of, one of the architects joked once with me and said, yeah, so you guys are like makeup artists, right? You come right at the end and use your brushes to make us look good. And I said, and I said, yeah, well, sometimes we can. And then he pulls out, you know, a perspective of his building and says, oh, can you. Can you do lighting for this? I said, yeah, we are makeup artists, but I have to tell you, if your girlfriend is not very good looking to begin with, there's only as much I can do, right? There's only as much you can do with makeup. He didn't take it very well. But anyway, that's besides the point. But the work that we do obviously has to sit within a larger context and within the larger architectural context. But what I've also found is that once we've gained a bit of experience, people understand that we have that experience. We've delivered a few projects very successfully. That's when they have more appreciation for what you're telling them. So it's almost like the value of your advice sort of goes up, if you know what I mean. And that only happens because they have more confidence in what you're saying. I was seeing the same things 20 years ago, but nobody believed me. They thought, I'm the new kid on the blog. What does he know? And architects would come to meetings and say, listen, we don't want you to do any design. This is the wall that we want to highlight. This is where you should be placing your fittings. Just give us a spec. And I used to wonder that, why are you even hiring a designer? You can just go to a sales rep for it. You don't need a creative designer to do that. But now when I go and tell them that there's probably not the best way of doing it, we can do it this way, or there is another way, this is what we must do. And it is my moral responsibility to tell you what are the opportunities? And then you decide. You tell me what suits you. Then suddenly there's a switch. And the statement comes out that, okay, you're the expert, you tell us. So that is a very real experience on the ground. But yes, lighting design can never be looked at in isolation. It has to sit within the overall context, and it has to sit within the context of the architecture, the design aesthetic, largely for the project, human factors, the location, where that place is. I mean, if we designing a resort in Maldives vs US designing a resort in the Maasai Mara in Kenya, or us designing a resort in Dubai on Palm Jumeirah or the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia. These are all different locations. And the context of that place has to reflect in the visual aspect of the design.

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[Sam Corble]

It's not unassuming to think that you might actually be working on projects in all four of those regions and you're based here in Dubai. Just because they all have their own design teams and timelines doesn't mean you're not working on them all in the same week or maybe even in the same day. How do you clarify yet compartmentalize, you know, the cultural expectations of each project as you jump from one to the other?

[Sedar]

I think that comes down to being able to read people, because you will only be able to appreciate culture if you interact with the people on the project teams, talk to them, and try and understand where are they coming from and why they are saying what they are saying. That is a very large part of design that sometimes gets overlooked. And I struggle with, to make that understand to so many people in my team as well, is that you need to first establish a person to person connect. And then everything becomes easy. It becomes easy for you to understand what they are talking about. It becomes easy for you to understand the expectations, the level of expectations, the level of detail that you won't need to get into. And it's really about understanding culture. And you can only understand culture when you establish a person to person connect. And that is so important. But it isn't something that is taught in design schools. You learn it on the job, you learn it by observing people, you learn it by traveling the world. You learn it by talking to people. You know, we cannot just be sitting behind our computer monitors. We cannot design just behind our computer monitors. It's extremely important to go out there to talk to people, to just interact. And I find it so difficult to do many times because there are, I mean, of course everyone is busy. Time is a constraint. You know, people are busy. So it's not, it's not easy, but it really is. The secret of the source is really going down to the basics. Is really going down to the basics and understanding people.

[Sam Corble]

What happens if you don't do this? You don't go back to the basics. You don't understand people and you maybe just comply with what, quote, the Pinterest board says.

[Sedar]

Well, I think as a designer, if you do that, then you are either a prima donna that doesn't have to talk to people and understand what they want, or you're doing extremely boring design. There's nothing wrong with that. Or you're doing, oh, sorry, we'll change the word boring. We'll call it generic design. You're doing generic design. There's nothing wrong with that. So be it. I'm sure there are people around the world that are designing lighting for container terminals and lighting for large Amazon storage warehouses and things which are generic design. There may not be as much creative juice in them. It's perfectly fine. But as a designer, one needs to have the heart to take a decision. What is it that you want to do? And I tell all the young guys that I interact with that please be very, very particular about what is your identity? What do you want to do? If you really want to do inspiring work, if you really want to do good work and get out there and fulfill all of these requirements, juggle all these balls, there is no other way for you to actually get down to the basics and learn, because the business of design hasn't changed in the last 200 years and probably will not change for the next hundred years. It will evolve, but it will never change. The basic premise is you are offering a service for another person. So unless you understand what the other person likes or doesn't like, there's no other way for you to do your job.

[Sam Corble]

Well, when you think about that person, let's put residential aside for a second. Let's talk about commercial construction.

[Sedar]

Yes. So that person becomes a company.

[Sam Corble]

Yep.

[Sedar]

Yeah. The person becomes a machine. A machine, absolutely.

[Sam Corble]

A bank, a financier.

[Sedar]

So then you start understanding that machine and what are the expectations of that machine. But that machine is probably made up of five or 50 different people. So you still read those five people, or the 50 people, depending on what the case is. But eventually, at the end of the day, it is about people. So you read them, you understand what they want. You try and understand what the architect wants. You try and understand what the project manager wants, the other consultants on the team, what the builder wants. What the builder wants is something completely different. And he will fight tooth and nail if you. If you make him install an extra

[Sam Corble]

screw, you bring up the builder, which now I've just got to start smiling. Right. Like, now we're talking holistically about design. Construction, implementation, everything from vision to creation and reality. No two buildings are the same. The design process isn't linear. I think it's actually perfectly linear, because the linear nature of all this is listening to the people involved.

[Sedar]

Right? Yeah.

[Sam Corble]

So there's a. There's a. There's a commonality of culture throughout all of design, and there's a distinct. What's the word? When you, like, get up on a soapbox and you scream like, you know, eureka. There's.

[Sedar]

What is it? Eureka.

[Sam Corble]

A Eureka. There's a distinct Eureka. That says, like, just follow the culture and the mindset behind the project, and that's how you win. Yes, but understand it will never be the same twice. And understand that that's why this business operates the way it does. And it's interesting because people get frustrated with construction and design day in and day out, and the people in the industry do, yet everybody keeps doing it, right? There's. Everybody's still making a living making money doing it. And if we. If we kind of just pull back for a minute to say, well, it's okay to be frustrated, because if you're dealing with a different culture on every project and you're working on five projects a day, and your job is to get up and go blend in with five cultures, and then disconnect from it and go home and be yourself, how could you not be exhausted? How could you not be frustrated?

[Sedar]

It is a very. Exhausted is a very exhausting profession, and it is a very frustrating profession. That's to be expected.

[Sam Corble]

There's something beautiful about that. Like, that's absolutely. I mean, you're.

[Sedar]

Then it is. I'm sorry, but then that is true passion. That's the only way to explain why you do what you do. For me, you touched upon making money as well. I don't think many people make money, but to be able to point your finger at a building and say, you know what? I did that. And that feeling is like nothing else for me. It is taking my daughters to a project and pointing a finger, saying, you know what? We designed that lighting. And just seeing the smile on their faces. That's what it is all about. And it all comes crumbling down when they say, oh, dad, did you put the fairy lights on those palm trees? And I'm like, no, that is not what we put. That's what the operator put. They don't even belong there. And they're like, yeah, but they look so cool. And I'm like, oh, can you look at the wall washing on the facade? And not the Fairy lighting. But that's reality. That happens. But all in all, this is not for the faint hearted. This is not a profession that you get into. If you want, if you have a sprint in mind, this is a marathon. This is AN IRONMAN Times 4. You know, you have to be prepared for it. There is just no other way.

[Sam Corble]

You've worked in Dubai for two decades. You do a lot of work in India. You do work in Africa as well. What's one of your most enjoyable favorite or memorable moments or stories or projects where culture made an impact or the work you did ended up defining the culture of that environment?

[Sedar]

No, my favorite, okay, my favorite part about any project is when we propose something that is offbeat, something that is different, something that hasn't been done before or seen before and that is accepted. The sense of achievement when you design something different or show people that there is a different way of doing this. And for them to be convinced and say, yep, sounds good, let's do this. There's nothing like it. That's the biggest high in the world for me. And I experience such highs at least once on every project. That is my aim. You know, 99% of the times, okay, I'm happy to conform, but. But that one aspect of that project has to be something. You know what, that was my idea. No one thought it could be done. Nobody thought about it before. But this is what I brought into a project and I now one such project comes to my mind. The first time that I was able to do something was a casino that we were working on in South Africa. And we came up with this whole concept of doing a outdoor chandelier hanging from a tree. And I had no idea that it would get accepted so easily. I thought, it's a cool idea, let's propose it. It's going to get shot down, but we'll try and scrape through by saying that, you know, we'll find a way to do it and we'll work with the manufacturer and you know, because obviously there are so many limitations to it with the weather being one, high wind velocity, blah, blah, so many. But the moment that slide came up on the screen, and this was 15 years ago, and the moment that slide came up on that screen, you know, somebody from the client's team went, oh, that looks super cool. What is that? Can we do that? I said, yeah, that's what we're proposing for the trees just on the outdoor dining deck. And he said, this is South Africa. So he says, lekka, let's do it, man. And I Was like, yeah, now we are talking. And then we. Back then we went into, you know, reverse engineering. The whole thing worked with the local manufacturer of how it can be done and we can HAC and what light source it can go and it needs to be IP rated and all of that. And then eventually we did a mock up, failed. We did three times again up till a point where we reached everyone's acceptance and it was installed. And when I saw that photograph, I was like, this is unbelievable. You know, we were able to do something that was never done before. Very simple, but never done before for whatever reason. Simple lighting would have been two or three fixtures to apply the tree based on the size and scale. Nothing wrong with that, but you can always push the envelope. So in the work we do, I always try and put forth our firm's personality into it. So you may have two or three design options that you think will be bought, and then you always add in that one offbeat thing because you never know what they may like. They may reject it. So be it. It doesn't matter. But there should always be that slight varnish of your own personality and experience, because otherwise, what's the point of people coming to us? There is no value addition, right? If we are doing exactly the same thing that everyone else is doing, what's the point? So we have a market because we can bring in that X factor of trying to push the boundary.

[Sam Corble]

Pushing boundaries is inevitably a way to evolve anything, right? Evolve the culture, evolve the design, evolve your own practice and experience. As you look at, you know, this idea that culture influences design and architecture, or design and architecture can create culture, Where. Where does your mind settle us as we leave this conversation today?

[Sedar]

In my mind, all of this is one pot. It is one pot. You cannot. It's like the chicken in the egg situation, you know? Does culture define architecture? Yes, it does. When you come up with architecture that doesn't belong to the place that you build it in or is iconic, let's say a museum, for instance, in 20 years time, that museum starts to define the culture of that place. So even though it was something that was alien when it was first built, it weaves itself into the fabric there. So both influence each other in equal parts. So as far as I'm concerned, it's what I call a perfect marriage.

[Sam Corble]

So if you have a perfect marriage, where do we insert lighting into it?

[Sedar]

Lighting is when you insert lighting is when things start to go wrong. Because you're either appointed too late or half the building is built. And. And most of Your ideas can't be realized, so. No, I'm joking. It's not. It's not as doom and gloom as that, but I think lighting is probably the matchmaker. Yeah, it's the makeup, actually. Yeah. It's not. It's not a. It's not a bad thing to say. So lighting is probably the makeup that. That keeps the perfect marriage going.

[Sam Corble]

I appreciate you unpacking this with me. I feel like we've only scratched the surface on what could probably become somewhat of an argumentative conversation, but at the same time, just. Just makes you think, like, what am I really doing here? You know, what am I trying to create influence on or what's influencing me? Every facet of design. You and I both know that lighting has a profound impact on the opportunity to influence emotion in space. By far and large, today, the world probably wants contrast. I know you had an example for us earlier where just nice, great, uniform light is. Is what it is. You're a man of sayings, phrases. I'll let you think about it for a second. But, you know, if you could have a phrase or a sentence that helps you think about how light influences that experience, that culture, what is it?

[Sedar]

One man's sparkle is another man's glare.

[Sam Corble]

One man's sparkle is another man's glare. Sedar, thank you so much for this conversation.

[Sedar]

Thank you, Sam.

[Sam Corble]

I appreciate it. It's wonderful to be here in Dubai with you to learn a little bit more about your culture, your opportunity, and the work that you've created. Keep in touch. We'll do it again soon.

[Sedar]

Absolutely. I look forward to that. Thank you.

[Sam Corble]

See ya.

[Sedar]

See ya. Bye.