Written By Martha Uniacke Breen • Photos By Larry Arnal Photography
In Greek mythology, Harmonia is the goddess of harmony and concord. As a society which more or less invented the architectural arts, The Greeks prized this concept as the ultimate goal in the design of any built structure. Harmony doesn’t just mean symmetry or balance, though these elements are part of it. It’s about finding an ideal whole, a sense of overall visual “rightness,” that somehow settles the mind and the soul.
The concept of Harmonia is implied in Harmen Design, the name that Goli Basiri and Kia Kazemian gave to the studio they founded in 2018. It embodies a philosophy that incorporates both interior and external architecture, how these two elements work together; and a sense of how teamwork creates a result greater than the sum of the parts. It’s also about creating a design that pleases the senses, not just the head or the heart.
Both Basiri and Kazemian earned architecture degrees in their native Iran and grew up in families who work in the building arts. Goli explains she had been fascinated from a very young age by the emotional effect that houses can have on people. “I loved visiting the different houses of my family and friends,” she recalls. “I noticed how I felt really good in some, and not so good in others. So, I went into architecture to discover exactly what it is that makes some home designs work.”
Kia noticed, soon after he entered the profession in Canada, that (in many cases) there were important differences in the way architects in this country approach the design process. “Architecture is about all the details, not just the shell and the ‘permanent’ elements,” he observes. “But in North America, the disciplines of interior design and architecture are treated separately.” The couple founded Harmen Design intending to offer design services that married these two elements into a single, synchronized approach.
