The Logma cafe by Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad and Farrokh Aman is an Iranian-Iraqi dining space located in Hackney, London, designed to reflect shared cultural references across both regions. The Logma cafe by Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad and Farrokh Aman draws from domestic interiors, traditional coffee houses, and European café typologies, combining them into a layered environment shaped by personal and regional memory. The project was developed in close collaboration with the founders to translate lived experiences into spatial form.
The interior includes a central communal table positioned beneath a large mirror, with handwritten menu elements integrated into the surface. Seating zones are divided through color and layout, including a raised butter-yellow section that separates circulation from dining. Decorative details such as lace trims, chandeliers, and textured finishes are used throughout, forming a mix of contemporary and nostalgic references.
Image Credit: Ali Koobideh
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Memory-driven Interior Design
- A growing market for modular heritage-led design systems that translate personal and regional memory into adaptable commercial interiors.
- Hybrid Cultural Gastronomy Spaces
- Blending domestic, traditional coffeehouse, and European café typologies is generating hybrid venue formats that blur dining, social, and cultural programming.
- Tactile Nostalgia Aesthetics
- The reintegration of lace trims, chandeliers, and textured finishes signals demand for tactile material palettes that evoke curated nostalgia in contemporary settings.
Where This Applies
- Hospitality
- Innovations in communal seating, mirrored focal points, and handwritten menu integration are reshaping guest experience expectations within cafés and small restaurants.
- Interior Design
- Collaborative design processes that translate lived experience into spatial form are creating new service niches focused on culturally specific fit-outs.
- Cultural Tourism
- Sites that embody cross-regional memories and layered aesthetics are emerging as experiential attractions that extend beyond traditional sightseeing.
