pershika
“Not all problems will ever be solved, and this is the reality of our century: architects are choosers of which problems to solve.” — Paul Rudolph
Today, architecture as a problem-solving discipline has gained significant attention, particularly considering the economic, political, social, and climatic conditions that shape human life.
In fact, the main question or issue of a project defines the architect’s strategic approach to solving it.
Sometimes, despite its complexity, a project’s challenge has clearer solutions due to the many historical answers given to similar problems—such as in residential projects.
Other times, project conditions allow the architect to pose a new question, adding layers to the original problem, redefining it, and offering innovative solutions.
The Pershika chain restaurants project was one of these types of projects for us.
The initial challenge was to meet the need for dining in a different way.
The client, a producer of ready-to-eat Iranian dishes as well as specialty international foods (like various pasta sauces), aimed to create and develop a reliable market for serving food in two main contexts:
- Universities, particularly student dormitories
- Roadside restaurants, where food quality, speed, and standards are generally inconsistent
In the next layer, the project management team collaborated with the client to expand the original brief.
They proposed creating a brand identity for a franchise of restaurants delivering diverse Iranian and international dishes with speed, quality, and high standards.
This defined the project’s economic justification, operational boundaries, transformation of food service, meaning, and spatial experience.
Architecture was therefore considered a critical element in creating this brand.
Our involvement began at this stage.
Design Challenge
During the design process, while expanding the client’s brief, we posed a new question:
How can architecture be built that:
- Can be constructed without a specific site, yet adapt to multiple sites with varying climates, sizes, orientations, and light conditions
- Is both introverted and extroverted, responding to all functional requirements of an industrial restaurant while maintaining spatial diversity
- Can be built in different investment scales
- Can be constructed rapidly
- And most importantly, can create a brand identity within its design
In essence, “how to build” became the project’s central question.
Design Approach
By exploring alternative construction systems, we delayed the emergence of the final form, concluding that the project required a “genetic system”—a design framework that would allow the project to reconfigure itself in different ways, like a puzzle.
To construct this “puzzle” in the shortest possible time, we categorized functions and used two simultaneous construction systems:
- All functional and service activities were organized in prefabricated modular units
- The dining halls, adaptable to each site, were constructed with precast beam-and-column structures and concrete roofs
While module design involves challenges such as dimensions, weight, utilities, materials, transportation, and assembly, the most critical challenge was ensuring that the modules did not produce repetitive combinations that would limit spatial diversity and flexibility.
To address this, we rotated one grid by 30 degrees, creating a modular system based on two geometric grids, which allowed for more diverse configurations and richer geometries—our solution became a Tangram-like puzzle.
Implementation Example
For the first project, in collaboration with University of Tehran, a 12×36 m plot with a 7% slope was allocated to build a restaurant serving 1,000 meals in 350 m².
Using this approach resulted in:
- Four distinct spaces with different sizes, features, and views, capable of hosting various events depending on the time of day, season, and number of visitors, without interfering with functional areas.
- A deepened façade, eliminating its traditional definition and creating constantly changing perspectives as one moves through the space.
- Integration of exterior spaces, allowing the façade itself to generate events and experiences.
- Simultaneous use of two construction systems and prefabrication, enabling the project to be completed in 96 working days.
At the beginning of the design process, we did not anticipate such a final product.
The outcome was the result of a different question and a unique solution—something on the boundary between industrial design and architecture.