About

Pantea originally from Iran, with an interest in studying design but also Italian language, she moved to Italy and completed a degree in Product / Furniture Design at Milan Polytechnic University in 2012 (with a healthy education in Italian also).

After, she worked as a Junior Furniture designer for Italian/Iranian modern furniture manufacturing company, ITALFOAM. Here, she developed a strong knowledge in design and experience working with computer programs, however she still wanted more; wishing be able to physically make her designs. “There is little interest in small-batch, local design in Italy and Iran” she says “if you do not work designing for large production and big, well-known brands, it is a struggle to do something distinct”. There was not the same kind of interest she saw in Australia and New Zealand.

Pantea lights up as she talks about her love of Nordic and Danish style furniture. The first time she travelled to New Zealand, she says, she was highly impressed by the focus on locally made, one-off pieces and the elegance and simplicity of the Scandinavian design influence.

Travelling to Australia, her eyes were opened to further possibilities of furniture design and making. Stumbling upon JamFactory after a friend told her she must visit, she was blown away by the workshop facilities and the Associate Program, and even more so to be accepted into the program a few months later.

She stresses that she has been highly appreciative of the room to experiment and push her design practice at JamFactory, citing in particular the opportunity to branch out into employing the skills of other studios in her practice too has been a once-only opportunity.

Pantea is now confident enough with her new found technical skills in woodworking to venture into new experiments for her designs.