DANCING HOUSE

Description

Essentials about the Dancing House in brief

If you are a fan of modern architecture, you should have seen this building. The Dancing House (cz. “Tančící dům”) truly deserves its name. For the building, erected in 1996 directly on the banks of the Vltava River, with its two towers leaning against each other, which seem to literally embrace each other, is indeed very reminiscent of a dancing couple. Not surprisingly, the people of Prague also like to call it “Ginger and Fred” (after the most famous dancing couple in history, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire). Today, the Dancing House houses a contemporary art gallery, a restaurant and a hotel.

The history of the Dancing House

The history of the Dancing House is strongly connected with the first president of the Czech Republic, Václav Havel. At the current location of the house there was a residential building until 1945, which was destroyed at the end of World War II during an American bombing raid. Since then, an “open wound” gaped in the front of the house on the Vltava River. Václav Havel, who lived near the derelict property for decades, supported the modern, deconstructivist building project of Czech architect Vlado Milunić in cooperation with Canadian star architect Frank Gehry. The construction of the Dancing House led to heated discussions among the Prague population. Critics saw it as a destruction of the overall historical ensemble of Prague’s city center. Proponents, on the other hand, praised the bold modern architecture, of which Prague had had so little until then.

The architecture of the Dancing House

The Dancing House consists of two parts: One static (Fred) and one dynamic (Ginger). The Dancing House is nine stories high, the two parts are vertically separated and not connected to each other on the individual levels. The static side carries at the top of the tower a head of Medusa formed by means of stainless steel tubes.

The elements of the Dancing House

On the first floor of the Dancing House is a gallery that exhibits contemporary art by young artists who have not yet made a name for themselves. So if you are looking for a work by a (possibly) upcoming art star, you should stop by here. Upstairs in the building is a French restaurant. If you like to dine in an upscale ambiance and enjoy a wonderful view of the Vltava River, Prague’s Malá Strana and Prague Castle to boot, you should reserve a table here. And if you fall in love with the Dancing House, you can also book a room in the in-house hotel.