Valentin Blatz Brewing Company was an American beer producer from 1851 to 1959.  It’s home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is now on the national register of historic places, a central part of Milwaukee’s brewing history.  In the 1980s, the vacant building was rehabbed to house offices and apartments, referred to on the street as “The Blatz”.  Today, The Blatz has been fully refreshed by Johnsen Schmaling Architects, using some of the building’s own history (and product) in it’s eco-conscious design. The Blatz building’s lower level lounge features a series of doors constructed of empty beer bottles.  Each of these doors is nine feet tall and just over nine feet wide, pivoting smoothly on a central axis.  These bright amber doors open and close to partition off smaller, more intimate areas of the lounge– or open wide for a larger experience.  The bottles themselves are true to Blatz Brewing, having been recovered from a basement storage area and given duty again in the building’s new purpose.  [more at archdaily via notcot] View in gallery View in gallery View in gallery

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