Arikan was born and raised in İstanbul, Türkiye. After receiving his engineering degree from Istanbul Technical University, he moved to the USA to study for his master’s degree in the Material Science Department at the University of Houston. His goal was to follow his father’s footsteps and work as an engineer in one of the most established companies in the world. But deep inside, Arikan’s true interest lay in architecture and design.

Coming from a family lineage of furniture makers and retailers, he decided to open his own furniture company in Houston and quit his engineering career. He successfully ran his company for over a decade till Hurricane Ike hit the Houston area in 2008. The devastating hurricane also brought an abrupt end to his company. However, this loss was the start of a wonderful new career for Arikan in the high-end furniture industry. He worked for many prestigious companies like Roche Bobois, B&B Italia and Gervasoni before joining Urbanspace Interiors. Arikan now has close to 25 years of experience in the furniture and design industry.

Arikan also loves to travel with his family and collect memories. His main goal in life is to raise his three beautiful girls as world citizens.

Arikan, who goes by “Ari”, which means “Bee” in his native Turkish language, has also great affection for bees for their incredible intelligence, architectural ability and teamwork. He takes his inspiration from these tiny creatures that have a huge impact on nature. Arikan understands that we cannot design better living and working environments for humans without understanding our effect in nature.