About
A certain way
of looking.
Across technology, finance, hospitality, art and fashion, the connecting thread has been curiosity sharpened by close attention.
The thread begins with systems.
Educated at the Lycée Français de New York, she holds American and German nationality. At Cornell, Ulla studied computer science and theoretical mathematics, with graduate work in distributed reliable systems, robotics and early video compression. She is credited as Ulla Bartsich for integrating changes into Tcl-DP 3.3, the Cornell-originated distributed programming project. The work encouraged a habit of looking past presentation to the architecture underneath.
Finance brought scale; ownership brought consequence.
Strategic planning at Morgan Stanley was followed by private investing and, in the Languedoc, the work of shaping Château Maris as co-owner and creative director. At François Plantation — the St. Barthélemy hotel she owned and operated for twelve years — she brought Pierre Gagnaire, one of the world's most decorated chefs, to lead the kitchen. These were not distant holdings, but places in which every abstract choice eventually became physical.
Fashion offered another kind of precision.
Ulla modeled for John Galliano, Giorgio Armani, Christian Lacroix and Hanae Mori, to name a few. Her editorial work included covers of Vogue and Elle in several countries and the cover of Seventeen, while campaigns included L'Oréal and DIM. She later advised the couture houses of Stéphane Rolland and Zuhair Murad. Proximity to the makers—the cut of a line, the discipline of construction, the patience behind apparent ease—made fashion part of the same continuing education in form.
The cultural life grew around the work.
Based in New York, she collects modern and contemporary art. For more than a decade, she has been a friend of the Costume Institute and the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris. She chaired the Opéra Garnier gala two years running and has remained close to New York City Ballet; her work in health has included involvement with Hôpital Necker in Paris and service on the women's board of New York Hospital.
