m e r sh
and l ee
Office Statement
mershandlee is a Vienna/Tehran-based architecture and design practice, founded in 2017. This is a place where we explore, read, write, research, collect, draw, model, analyze, render, animate, teach, collaborate, design, and practice architecture. Mershandlee believes in the potential of architecture and its ability to influence the performance and interactions of those who inhabit it. We look at architecture through its meanings and narratives, considering their unique engagements with works of art and literature, as well as historical and cultural events, to reimagine the real.
Founding Partners
Lida Badafareh is an architect and an educator practicing in Vienna. She is a PhD candidate at the Gestaltung Institute at the University of Innsbruck. Previously, she was a lecturer at the Urban Design Institute at the University of Innsbruck, where she taught design courses as well as seminars. She has also taught at Raumklasse at the Universität der Künste Berlin. She worked as an architect and urban design researcher for several architecture offices, including Coop Himmelb(l)au. She holds a Master of Arts in Architecture and Urban Design from Städelschule, where her graduate thesis received the AIV Master Thesis Award.
Mehrshad Atashi is an architect and an educator based in Vienna. He is a PhD candidate at the Gestaltung Institute at the University of Innsbruck. He previously worked as a lecturer at the Institute of Urban Design at the University of Innsbruck, where he led design courses and seminars. He holds a B.Arch from Università degli Studi di Firenze and a Master of Arts in Architecture and Urban Design from Städelschule. Previously, he worked in the offices of Sou Fujimoto Architects in Tokyo and Coop Himmelb(l)au in Vienna.