Volker Haug was drawn to lighting from an early age. Growing up in Stuttgart, Germany, he remembers his parents taping up light switches to prevent him from flipping them on and off, like strobes. His obsession led him close to electrocution the day he got into a tussle with an extension cord.

“But still, my fascination did not waiver,” he says. “Although I didn’t yet know there was such a thing as a lighting designer, I’d spend my pocket money on novelty lightbulbs.”