It will be a space for culture, dialogue, and the global music scene.

Ostrava’s concert hall will bear the name VOX. The name emerged from an open public call and expert proposals developed in cooperation with representatives of the city and the future operator, DKMO s.r.o. VOX, Latin for “voice,” symbolizes the strong voice of a modern cultural city that holds an important place on the world map. In addition to its new name, the city’s new cultural center also has a brand-new visual identity created by the respected Czech graphic design studio Gradual.

VOX is Ostrava’s new cultural center, which will create a public space for culture, education, and dialogue in the broadest sense. “The term concert hall, under which we have so far presented the newly emerging cultural complex, was no longer able to encompass all of the activities the future building will offer its visitors. It was therefore necessary to look for both a new name and a new visual identity, and to begin systematically communicating this cultural space not only domestically, but also abroad,” explains Jan Dohnal, Mayor of the statutory city of Ostrava. The building, created through the reconstruction of the original House of Culture of the City of Ostrava with a modern extension designed by architect Steven Holl, has so far been known to the public simply as the Concert Hall. However, this term no longer fully captures the full potential of the new space, and it therefore became necessary to find a new representative name. “The name VOX was created on the basis of clearly defined criteria. We were looking for a term that would also be internationally understandable; at the same time, it is not an acronym, but a word with a specific meaning — voice. This fully expresses the idea of the project: the voice of the city and a space for dialogue,” explains Lucie Baránková Vilamová, Deputy Mayor of the statutory city of Ostrava.

The new visual identity under which VOX Ostrava will present itself emerged from a two-phase non-anonymous closed competition organized by the future operator of the building in cooperation with Czechdesign. Five graphic design studios advanced to the second round of the competition. The winning concept was created by the Czech studio Gradual. “The visual system of VOX is based on Janáček’s theory of sčasování — sounding, counting, and summation. This musical principle is transformed into a visual language. As designed, the system reflects the dialogue between the old and the new building, where the sharp lines of the original House of Culture of the City of Ostrava are complemented by the organic shapes of the modern extension,” explains Martin Egrt, co-author of the winning design and Motion Director at Gradual. The basic element the designers work with is a rectangle within a grid, which gradually becomes rounded and takes on a fluid character. “The openings and skylights then refer to Steven Holl’s architecture and the changing light within the space,” adds Markéta Steinert, co-author of the design and Brand Director at Gradual.

The five-member jury that evaluated all of the presented concepts favored Gradual’s winning proposal primarily because it captured, in a highly convincing way, the essence and future direction of VOX as a multifunctional space. “In the context of contemporary design, this is a strong solution that works very well with the implementation of the new name. As the organizer of the competition, we are pleased that it was possible to create a high-quality process thanks to which the jury could select a proposal that convincingly expresses the future direction of VOX,” adds Jana Vinšová, design theorist and director of Czechdesign.

The process of searching for the name itself was initially open, and the public also submitted a wide range of proposals. “We collected all of the proposals and evaluated them according to the same criteria. It was essential that it be a term with a specific meaning, one that would be timeless and internationally understandable. We therefore also consulted the selected terms internationally, for example with students at Columbia College Chicago, in order to verify their usability in an international environment and across generations,” explains Petra Javůrková, Operations and Economic Director of DKMO s.r.o.

VOX, as a voice, is not merely the name of the building itself; it is also the project’s core idea. “Personally, I am very pleased that the new name is being introduced even before people have the opportunity to see the physical form of VOX,” adds Jan Žemla, Managing Director of DKMO s.r.o. and Director of the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, and continues: “The meaning of the new name already creates space for opening a dialogue within society, which is one of the core ideas behind the entire project,” Žemla concludes.