Louvette in use for Komorní Filharmonie Pardubice, the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice. The accompanying sans serif is Silka.

Pardubice is a city in the Czech Republic, about 100 kilometers east of Prague. At some point in time, a futuristic minded person decided that Churchward Design was an appropriate choice for the official sign at Náměstí Republiky, or Republic Square. The Bauhaus-y sans with the signature counter in B is the work of Joseph Churchward, drawn in New Zealand and released in 1970. It here is used in two lines of different size, in all caps, with custom diacritics.

I wonder whether this is a unique choice especially made for this major square in the city center, or whether it’s a leftover from a larger sign system. A quick search on Google Street View suggests the former: most of the modern signs in the neighborhood are in DIN 1451 (and Engschrift), and some older enamel signs show lettering in squarish bold condensed sans serif caps.

The picture was taken by Ondrej Jób of Setup Type in 2016 for his commendable Type Atlas project, in which documents “daily typographic finds and treasures”.