The first design for the Milchbar (milk bar) was created in 1997. Over the years, four more architectural designs and plans for other locations in Munich followed.

There are no specifications whatsoever for the club that is to be built in Munich. The architect, Suzanne Faltenbacher, has been given absolute artistic freedom by her clients, who are venturing into uncharted territory by running a bar.

She was responsible for the branding of Milch und Bar, including the club's architectural design and lighting, which also became part of the corporate identity and remains the trademark to this day. In May 1997, the first visual appearance of Milchbar was celebrated in an old industrial hall in Kunstpark Ost, marking the completion of the project.

Suzanne Faltenbacher transferred her corporate identity for the milk bar as a graphic artistic design all around the walls of the industrial hall, thus creating a distinctive spatial presentation.

At a height of 3 meters, the wall surfaces in the 18-meter-high factory hall are plastered. Then, her logo is transformed into an oversized artistic billboard. The corporate identity, consisting of a red, continuous bar in the center with the striking lettering in black above and below on a white background, reflects the timelessly modern character of the work and her approach to combining art and architecture.

The architect and artist deliberately uses red light as a trademark for Milch and Bar: A continuous line of light made of fluorescent tubes at a height of 3 m surrounds the graphic artistic wall work.

Each individual fluorescent tube is wrapped by hand with selected red foil to create precisely the desired, pleasantly soft and warm light tone, which already appears as a red band in the graphic. This red light contrasts with the concrete architecture of the industrial hall where Pfanni dumplings were once produced.

The bar counter is painted with matte black chalkboard paint and also designed with typography, which is applied as a continuous band.

Suzanne Faltenbacher's graphic and artistic design is still used today on drinking glasses, T-shirts, CDs, posters and much more as the corporate identity of Milchbar, and red light is repeatedly used in the club and bar area.

Location: Milchbar in Kunstpark Ost, Munich
Year: 1997
Dimensions: 150 sq m
Publication: Frame, AIT, Häuser, Süddeutsche Zeitung etc.