ho hai tran documents the second lives of pizza hut restaurants

ho hai tran documents the second lives of pizza hut restaurants
all images courtesy of ho hai tran

photographer ho hai tran has started a quest to find and photograph pizza hut’s iconic buildings around the world to see what they are being used for and document their second lives. his aim is to create a fine arts book called ‘pizza hunt’, showcasing the architecture and nostalgia of the golden era of the fast food dine-in restaurant. by now, he has travelled over 14.000kms between australia, new zealand, and the united states, and has captured nearly 100 huts.

video courtesy of ho hai tran

in his journey, ho hai tran has encountered that many of the huts have been demolished and that the remaining ones now have second lives as grocery stores, pawnshops, gospel churches, liquor stores and funeral homes, among other things. although most of them have been repurposed, refurbished or relocated, the buildings are still recognizable. 

vacant, west palm beach, florida, USA

the photographer is currently raising money on kickstarter (here) to turn this project into a book that can sit on the tables of people who used to go to the huts and eat unlimited pizza, garlic bread, jelly cubes and self-serve sundaes. 

church of our savior, boynton beach, florida, USA

davinci homes, murrysville, pennsylvania, USA

house of joy, glendale, california, USA

simply stereo, hoffman estates, illinois, USA

seoul hoikwan restaurant, belfield, new south wales, australia

olsens funerals, revesby, new south wales, australia

los burritos mexicanos, st charles, illinois, USA

copycat printing, california, pennsylvania, USA

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: juliana neira | designboom