Milchbar
Experiential Architecture x Branding
In 1997, studioacht laid the foundation for a legendary phenomenon in Munich's nightlife with the design of the original Milchbar. This marked the inception of an evolutionary series of five architectural designs and spatial concepts executed by the studio across the city’s most iconic nightlife hubs—from Kunstpark Ost and the Optimolgelände to Sonnenstraße 12 and 27.
Granted absolute artistic freedom by the founders, architect and artist Suzanne Faltenbacher developed the comprehensive brand identity from scratch, seamlessly embedding it into the architectural framework and spatial lighting. The logo she created became the core of the copyright-protected corporate identity—a definitive visual trademark that remains highly relevant today. Its debut was celebrated around the clock in May 1997 within a raw industrial hall at Kunstpark Ost.
The architectural scenography of Milchbar thrived on a radical symbiosis of brutalist industrial substance and precise graphic intervention. Within the monumental, 18-meter-high factory hall—a former production site for Pfanni dumplings—the lower wall surfaces were smoothly skimmed up to a height of 3 meters. Upon this perimeter, Suzanne Faltenbacher projected the corporate identity directly onto the architecture, transforming the walls into a continuous, oversized graphic mural: a bold, central red band flanked by the striking black typography on a clean white background.
As a deliberate counterpoint to the raw, cold concrete of the factory, she introduced intense red light as the venue's ultimate signature. A continuous, linear horizon of fluorescent tubes at the 3-meter mark bounded the graphic artwork, bathing the rough texture of the hall in a dense, warm red glow. To perfectly replicate the exact shade of the graphic brand identity within the three-dimensional space, every single tube was manually wrapped in selected red films. This uncompromising fusion of architecture, graphic art, and sculptural lighting remains the definitive, interdisciplinary DNA of studioacht.
Architectural Scenography: Suzanne Faltenbacher
Corporate Identity: Suzanne Faltenbacher
Scope: Spatial Identity x Lighting Scenography x Site-specific objects x Graphic Art Installation
Dimension: 148 sqm
Location: Kunstpark Ost, Munich, Germany