Born in Tehran, Iran, Shima Javan is a Persian-Canadian interior architect and designer, as well as the founder and principal of Shima Javan Design in Vancouver. Shima received her Master of Business Administration from Tehran University and Certificate of Interior Architecture and Design from Tehran Institute of Technology. For nearly 10 years, she worked on numerous residential and commercial projects in Tehran and Dubai before moving to Canada and getting her Certificate of Interior Design from BCIT. Her expertise landed her projects in downtown Vancouver’s most luxurious buildings and houses, from Three Harbour Green to stunning newly built developments in the Yaletown area.
The services she offers her clients are as diverse and far-reaching as her skills. Her firm offers everything from interior design, interior architecture and landscaping design, to renovations, decorating, procurement management and job site supervision. She also collaborates with architects on new-build projects in addition to providing services like art positioning and even minor cosmetic changes.
With every project she takes on, Shima feels like she falls in love again and again.
“I should have a close relationship with my designs and be very responsible for them,” she says. To her, every project is an invitation to an enchanting journey.
I have had a passion for design and decoration since I was a teenager. I loved accompanying my dad to his architectural projects and was always surrounded by his drawings and sketches. Throughout my family’s travels, I also derived a lot of inspiration from Iranian contemporary architects and designers. Visiting architectural sites around the world further instilled this desire that I continue to implement into my work.
My love for interior design is evident in my attention to detail and inherent sense of harmony. As a beginner, my first project was decorating my own place. My friends and family loved my style so they often hired me for their projects which snowballed into my thriving ten-year career in Tehran and Dubai.
My passion for creation also led me to direct 6 short movies, two of which were screened at Cannes Film Festival. This was all made possible with the help of movie directing courses spearheaded by Abbas Kiarostami and Asghar Farhadi. Abbas, my mentor and internationally famous Iranian director, taught me that the world is our workshop and not our home, so we must design and create as much as we can.
My clients are my soulmates. For them, I design with the same glamour and artistry as I do for my own personal spaces. I believe that every one of my projects has a unique soul and must be exciting, timeless and refined. I also believe that my clients should remain faithful to their own tastes because a person’s home is a great definition of his/her character. I ask them to share that and leave the rest to me.”
Photographer: Afshin Sadeghi
604 363 3631
Email: projects@shimajavan.com
Website: shimajavan.com
IG: shimajavan.interiordesign