BEHIND UMBRA
Umbra Touch is an architectural and spatial design studio at the intersection of architecture, art, and self-expression, founded by Ezgi Yılmaz in 2021. Based in Bebek, Istanbul, the studio brings together a multidisciplinary team of architects, interior architects, and industrial designers. Rooted in our philosophy, “Form Follows Soul,” we create soulful, identity-led spatial design through a high-touch process for brands and individuals.
Every project begins with The Umbra Method, a founder-developed methodology that guides the studio’s holistic approach to design. It decodes the essence of the identity, intentions, emotional landscape, and narrative behind a user, brand, or place, and translates them into an intentional, authentic, and tailor-made spatial language that leads the creative direction of each project rather than applying a predetermined signature style.
With an artisanal approach to design, Umbra’s relationship with craftsmanship is deeply rooted in founder Ezgi Yılmaz’s family heritage as the third generation of a family immersed in the furniture industry. An early proximity to materials, making, and fine detailing continues as part of the studio’s heritage today, where architecture, furniture, art, and objects are composed with precision and material sensitivity, creating environments that feel considered, tactile, and distinctly individual.
As a founder-led studio, Umbra Touch values creative intimacy over mass production, maintaining a boutique scale that allows for focused attention, close collaboration, and bespoke design. The result is architecture that is refined yet expressive, with each project carrying an identity of its own.
EZGI YILMAZ-
FOUNDER ARCHITECT
Ezgi Yılmaz is the founder architect and creative director behind the multidisciplinary design studio Umbra Touch. She studied architecture at Istanbul Technical University, one of Türkiye’s leading institutions, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Architecture. Her early fascination with art, making, and creative expression naturally led her toward a career in architecture.
In 2021, she founded Umbra Architects, which later evolved into Umbra Touch as she sought to bring greater meaning, soul, and emotional intelligence into design. Drawing on both her professional experience and a lifelong engagement with spiritual and creative practices, she began shaping a more intuitive and deeply personal approach to design.
Beyond architecture, Ezgi is building a broader creative world around her point of view. Through lifestyle and creative content, brand collaborations, writing, podcasting, and creative workshops, she is expanding her creative manifesto, Form Follows Soul, beyond spatial design into a wider exploration of creativity, identity, spirituality, personal growth, and intentional living. These parallel creative practices feed directly back into her architectural work.
Storytelling sharpens the way she constructs narratives, content creation broadens her visual and cultural references, and her engagement with spirituality and personal growth deepens the way she understands people, rituals, emotions, and everyday life. Together, these disciplines continually enrich her architectural perspective, allowing her to approach space with greater empathy, curiosity, and creative range.