Backpacker Turned Artist

I was born and raised in Iran, where I spent the first 22 years of my life wandering through its diverse and mesmerizing landscapes. By then, I had summited nearly 50 peaks — each one leaving its own quiet imprint on me.

On the way to Mount Alvand — Hamedan, Iran (2002). We didn’t summit that day.

Later, as kismet would have it, I moved to Seattle, Washington, and found myself happily lost in the spectacular wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. Mountains, with their shared language of magnitude, rawness, and majesty, became the common thread between all the lands I had visited — and those I would come to call home.

On top of Mount Adams, with Mount Rainier in the background — Washington, USA (2014)

Thanks to Mount Rainier and Mount Damavand, I became a Seattleite–Esfahani. ( Technically, Damavand is not near Esfahan, my hometown, but I have summited it enough to imagine it that way in my mind) 

Turning forty brought with it a quiet longing — to reconnect with friends I had lost touch with over time. Mountains were no exception. I wished I could be with all of them, all the time, somehow, at once.

Around the same time, I began taking craftsmanship classes at a local community workshop. One evening, I noticed something unexpected.

Oh — they have a CNC machine.

That moment changed everything. I began experimenting, merging my yearning for mountains with this new way of making.

Sunrise at Torres del Paine — Patagonia, Chile (2025).

Before it became KooHaus, this project was my evening ritual — a deeply personal pursuit. I set out to translate the energy of mountains into form: calm, grounded, and quietly captivating. Aesthetically, the models mirror the real mountains — but emotionally, they are meant to echo how those places feel.

With the guidance of my craftsmanship mentor, MJ, we went through more than a hundred iterations — refining maps, elevations, wood species, thicknesses, and CNC tuning. Months passed before I created a piece I felt was worthy of sitting atop our fireplace.

That’s when the questions began.