- Project: Nappo Pizza
- Architect: URBANJOBS
- Location: Turkey, Istanbul
- Year: 2021
- Area: 205 m2
- Photography: İbrahim Özbunar
URBANJOBS redefined the concept of dining interiors with their Nappo Pizza project in Istanbul. Located within the bustling Kanyon Shopping Mall, the 2,206-square-foot restaurant was created inside a space surrounded on three sides by irregular walls. Instead of following the chaotic layout, the architects conceived a self-contained architectural shell — a new geometric interior detached from the existing structure.
The result is a restaurant design that emphasizes functionality, authenticity, and the essence of eating pizza without unnecessary ornamentation.
A Detached Shell Concept
URBANJOBS approached the project with a bold move: painting the existing walls in semi-matte black and introducing a new Euclidean shell that organizes the interior. This shell acts as a clean canvas, independent from the irregular geometry of the mall space.
Behind a high service wall, the kitchen is fully open yet visually organized, eliminating clutter and reinforcing transparency in the process of pizza-making. The design prioritizes clarity, proportion, and customer focus.
Minimalism in Service of the Food
Unlike many restaurant interiors reliant on decoration, Nappo Pizza avoids redundant details. Every visible connection — from banisters to flooring — was solved discreetly within wall and subfloor layers. This precision underscores URBANJOBS’ design philosophy: “moderate, neither few nor much, adequate.”
Key design elements include:
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Marble framing the pizza oven, highlighting both the act of cooking and the timeless material’s connection to fire and transformation.
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Neutral tones throughout, keeping attention on the food.
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Walls designed for frames or banisters, offering subtle functionality without disrupting the spatial calm.
For more inspiration on dining design, see 20 Modern Restaurant Interiors.
Solving a Distorted Interior
The biggest architectural challenge lay in the distorted geometry of the space, where no vertical angles aligned. URBANJOBS solved this by establishing a 90-degree reference line along the right wall from the entrance. All subsequent design decisions were derived from this axis, ensuring order and balance within an otherwise irregular volume.
This intervention demonstrates how architectural precision can transform chaotic contexts into harmonious, human-centered environments.
A Pure Dining Atmosphere
The completed design delivers an interior that is calm, minimalist, and timeless. By stripping away unnecessary decoration and focusing on material honesty and spatial order, Nappo Pizza becomes more than a restaurant — it is an architectural interpretation of food culture, where the ritual of making and eating pizza is the centerpiece.
