Dancing House (Tančící dům) Rašínovo nábřeží 80
120 00 Praha 2 (Prague)
Czech Republic
Frank Gehry
1996
The site of Gehry's Dancing House was
originally occupied by
a house in
the Neo-renaissance style from the end of the 19th
century. That house was destroyed during bombing
in 1945, its
remains finally removed in 1960. The neighboring house (with a small globe on the roof) was
co-owned by Czech ex-president Vaclav Havel, who
lived there from his childhood until the mid-1990s.
He ordered the first architectural study from Vlado
Milunic (who has been
involved in re-building Havel's
appartment in the
neighboring house). Afterwards the Dutch bank
ING agreed to build a
house there, and asked
Milunic to invite a world-renowned architect. Milunic
first asked Jean Nouvel,
who rejected the invitation because of the small size of the site (491 square meters);
he then asked Frank Gehry,
who and he accepted the challenge.
Gehry had an almost unlimited budget, because ING
wanted to create an icon in Prague.The construction started in 1994 and the house was finished in 1996.
The
building is an example of deconstructivist
architecture, with an
unusual shape. It reflects a
woman and man (Ginger Rogers and Fred Astair) dancing together. Construction
is from 99 concrete panels each of different shape and dimension,
each therefore requiring a unique wooden form.
Its unusual
shape and technical solutions caused a
big public debate. After
ten years emotions are over,
and the house has its place in modern Prague. In
2005 the Czech National Bank issued a
gold coin with the motif
of the Dancing House,
as the final coin of the series"10 Centuries of
Architecture."
Pavel
Sobol 2005
Additional photography Simon Glynn 2005
How to visit
The house
is located on the corner of the embankment Rasinovo nabrezi and the
street Resslova,within walking distance from
the underground station
Karlovo namesti.
The
house is used as an office
building and it is not open to public. However, you can visit the restaurant
La Perle de Prague, located
on 7th floor,
with a nice view of
the river and Prague Castle panorama. Visit the restaurant's web site at
www.laperle.cz or call +420221 984 160.
Books and other web
sites
Click the book title to view and to order direct
from
Frank
O. Gehry: The Complete Works
Francesco Dal Co, Kurt
Forster (Contributor), Hadley Soutter Arnold, Francesco Dal Co, Frank O.
Gehry
Very well reviewed
at amazon.com.
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