studiomateriality translates lucha libre into green-lit, stainless-steel bar in athens

studiomateriality designs Mexican-inspired bar in athens

OchoTac is a Mexican-inspired bar in Athens, where architecture, graphic identity, and food culture come together through a bold material and visual language. Designed by Studiomateriality, the project takes its name from its defining offer: eight tacos, alongside a drinks-focused menu, creating a concept built around the number eight. The design draws from the visual culture of Mexico while deliberately avoiding a literal interpretation of Mexican aesthetics. Instead, the project translates references to Mexican wrestling, or lucha libre, into a contemporary spatial and graphic identity.

Wrestling becomes the conceptual thread connecting the interior, the branding, and the experience of the bar. At the heart of the identity is the wrestling ring. Studiomateriality developed a graphic system based on eight wrestling movements and eight distinct masks, creating a visual vocabulary that directly references the eight tacos of the concept. The masks, poses, and ring graphics are translated across the branding and the interior, establishing a playful dialogue between food, movement, and Mexican popular culture.

The material palette is deliberately raw and industrial. Concrete, stainless steel, white tiles, and green glazed tiles form the architectural foundation of the space, while mirrors introduce reflections and depth. Green and white dominate the visual identity, with green extending beyond the surfaces and graphics into the lighting itself. The green illumination gives the bar an atmospheric, almost theatrical quality, reinforcing the connection to the dramatic world of lucha libre. Rather than recreating a Mexican environment, the project works through abstraction and contrast. The coolness of stainless steel and white ceramic surfaces is balanced by the saturated green of the tiles and lighting, while concrete adds a rough, tactile quality. Together, these materials create a space that feels simultaneously utilitarian, playful, and highly constructed.

all images ©Konstantinos Efthimiou

OchoTac extends its lucha libre identity below the bar

A particularly distinctive element of the project is located below the main bar: the bathroom area, conceived as an independent spatial experience rather than a conventional service zone. The entire basement section is treated in white, with white flooring and white wall tiles, while a mirrored ceiling reflects the space and intensifies its sense of depth. All the doors are made from stainless steel and resemble the heavy doors of commercial refrigeration units. This reference becomes explicit inside the individual toilets. Entering one of the cubicles feels like opening the door of a butcher’s refrigerator: green tiles line the interior, while stainless steel shelves carry sculptural representations of pieces of meat. The familiar language of a professional cold-storage or butcher’s refrigerator is transformed into an unexpected and theatrical bathroom environment.

Outside the individual toilets, a large stainless-steel island accommodates four sinks, functioning almost as a central piece of furniture within the space. A sofa, armchair, and artworks complete the area, turning the bathroom section into a social and visual extension of the bar rather than simply a functional space. The project by Athens-based design practice studiomateriality is ultimately conceived as a continuous identity system in which architecture and branding are inseparable. From the eight tacos to the eight wrestling movements and masks, from the green tiles and lighting to the stainless-steel refrigerator-like bathroom doors, every element contributes to a single narrative. OchoTac uses the language of lucha libre, industrial materials, and a highly controlled palette to create a contemporary Mexican bar that is as much about atmosphere and identity as it is about food and drink.

project info:

name: Ocho Tac | @ochotac
architect: studiomateriality | @studiomateriality

location: Athens, Greece

photographer: Konstantinos Efthimiou

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: Christina Vergopoulou | designboom