Designed by studio wok, Section80 Bar in Milan’s Isola district is conceived as an urban arcade that blurs the boundaries between interior and exterior into a continuous spatial experience. Through a highly adaptable layout, the venue accommodates multiple functions — including a wine bar, listening bar, and library — while movable elements and modular furnishings allow the spaces to be continuously reconfigured for different events, uses, and scenarios.
Located in Milan’s Isola district, Section80 Bar occupies the ground floor of a building distinguished by its piano-tail-shaped footprint, a characteristic that informed the project’s central concept. Conceived as a hybrid environment, the intervention dissolves the conventional boundaries between interior and exterior, transforming the venue into an urban arcade where the life of the city and the activities of the bar continuously overlap.
The project accommodates the venue’s multiple identities within a flexible spatial framework.
A wine bar and kitchen coexist with a listening bar equipped with a high-performance LED cinema wall, while a dedicated library area was developed in collaboration with Edicola 518. Material and aesthetic choices reinforce the project’s urban character.
Black concrete terrazzo flooring visually extends the surrounding asphalt pavements into the interior, while galvanized steel furnishings and façade plaster applied throughout the space reference materials more commonly associated with exterior environments.
Technical systems and infrastructural components remain fully exposed, becoming integral elements of the architectural expression rather than concealed necessities.
Within the main hall, the ceiling is lined with pyramid-shaped acoustic panels that ensure optimal sound performance while enhancing the custom high-fidelity audio system developed by H.A.N.D. Hi-Fi.
Lighting is organised around a recurring linear graphic element that establishes a new artificial horizon, allowing variations in colour and intensity to generate constantly shifting atmospheres.
Along the glazed frontage facing Via Farini, a custom system alternates outward-facing display elements with inward-facing steps clad in black rubber. Combined with two movable bleachers and a series of bespoke modular tables, the arrangement enables multiple spatial configurations capable of supporting different uses and events.
The library area is conceived as a bright and neutral environment. Sheet-metal shelving structures display books and publications, while a wall composed of repurposed galvanized spiral air-conditioning ducts reinterprets industrial components as decorative architectural elements, seamlessly integrating them into the project’s broader material vocabulary.
Custom-designed details further reinforce the venue’s identity.
Door handles feature a playful aesthetic influenced by street art culture, while black-painted plywood stools and stackable stainless-steel trolleys contribute to the project’s utilitarian yet expressive character.
The intervention extends outdoors through a long bench constructed from galvanized tubular steel profiles, accompanied by circular metal tables that activate the public realm and complete the spatial experience.
Section80 operates as an urban platform where culture, social interaction, and urban references converge.
Through its flexible spatial organisation, industrial material palette, and deliberate engagement with the public realm, the project challenges conventional distinctions between interior and exterior atmospheres.
In doing so, it offers a contemporary interpretation of the bar as a civic space—one that actively participates in the life of the city while continuously adapting to its evolving rhythms.
Drawings
Facts & Credits
Title Section80 Bar
Typology Interior, Bar
Location Milan, Italy
Status Completed, 2024
Architecture studio wok
Photography Federico Villa fotografo
Text by the authors
Take a look at another project by studio wok, ‘QuadroDesign HQ in San Maurizio d’Opaglio, Italy’, here!