Officially it’s the Milwaukee Building, but since 1999 few have called it that. Back then, looking to help shake some of the drab off of its downtown office towers, the city of Milwaukee went on a beautification bender, and one of their pet projects was this building.
Generic and kind of boring, what better way to add some architectural zest than three giant ladybugs, each one ten feet long.
The insects were added to the façade as an art installation, adding stark but whimsical contrast to the glass and metal cladding, and to the 19th century buildings scattered around it. There are pretty standard office suites on the upper floors (some are available if you’re in the market), and on the ground floor there have been a couple of different night clubs.
One venue, aptly named the Ladybug Club, opened and closed by 2010. But there’s a new hotspot in the space now, called 618 Live on Water. The ladybugs are clearly climbing down the building, not up. If they make it to the entrance they might just get carded.