Identity for the Music and Exhibition Hall ‘Tarilka’

In a bustling city like Kyiv, Ukraine, a concert hall serves as an auditorial respite from frenetic city life. Tarilka concert hall stands as part of a rare example of architectural Soviet modernism in the capital of Ukraine. Tarilka’s design evokes nature, specifically the ocean’s edge, to reinforce the idea of music as an escape from the urban landscape.

What is Tarilka?

Tarilka — is a unique example of Soviet modernism architecture situated in Kyiv, or Keiv — the capital of Ukraine. The renovated building is to become a new cultural space for concerts, exhibitions, and lectures. The main feature of the Ukrainian Institute of Scientific and Technical Expertise and Information building, the official name, is its shape. It has a rounded design reminiscent of a dinner plate, which in Ukrainian is ‘тарілка’ [tarilka], what the locals took to calling the building, giving Tarilka its unofficial name.

But Tarilka is not only about form, but also function. Such a shape creates amazing acoustics and reveals the versatility and fullness of sound. Visual communication is built around the architectural renovation plan created by the group of activists from the SaveKyivModernism organization. According to the plan, Tarilka becomes a modern cultural platform with an exhibition hall, music hall, and cafes.

GOAL

Create a visual style for а new concert venue with one of the best acoustics in the city. Tarilka’s identity should add to the architectural plan and its visual style seeks to distinguish Tarilka among other concert halls in Kyiv.

CONCEPT

Visitors to the concert hall witness all the greatness of sound through the prism of its unique acoustics. It is similar to the experience of being on a seashore, where the open space and silence are perfectly balanced with the pleasant sound of the surf.

We decided to identify Tarilka with the edge between the city rush and the greatness of music. Just as the seashore separates water from land.

The shore has a unique line, that changes its shape with every tide and weather conditions. Likewise, Tarilka changes its look in line with the occasion, as seating in the music hall is rearranged from event to event.

LOGO IDEA

A logo is extremely important for any concert hall because it will appear on tickets, posters and at the box offices. To design the visual image of the hall, we referred to the well-known shape of the building and round it up with letters.

SLOGAN

Every day we are surrounded by a great variety of unpleasant noises — the poor sound of cheap headphones, the rattling of cars, and the buzz of a megalopolis. To enjoy the music we need to deprive it of noises and listen carefully comprehending the full depth of the melody. The music hall — Tarilka was built to make the following way of music perception possible.

To back up this concept, we created the slogan “Keep your ears open!” Which could not have emphasized the idea better that people need to slow down and listen to the world around them.

THE CONCEPT BEHIND GRAPHICS

Inspired by the ocean’s edge, we used wavy graphics as a reference to the sealine as well as the curves and bas-reliefs of Tarilka’s building, and the sound wave of music equalizer. Thus we separated the layout by function. We built an association: music is the sea and the auditorium is the beach.