Dancing house
| Dancing house | |
|---|---|
 View of the building |
|
| Data | |
| place | Prague |
| architect | Vlado Milunić , Frank Gehry |
| Architectural style | Deconstructivism |
| Construction year | 1994-1996 |
| Floor space | 2,965 m² |
| Coordinates | 50 ° 4 '31.7 " N , 14 ° 24' 51.3" E |
The Dancing House ( Czech Tančící dům ) is the nickname of an office building in the Czech capital Prague that was built in 1996 . The construction plans were provided by the Zagreb- born Czech architect Vlado Milunić in cooperation with the Canadian architect Frank Gehry . It stands directly on the bank of the Vltava (Rašínovo nábřeží 80, 120 00 Praha 2) and serves as an office building for several mainly multinational companies.
Inspiration and acceptance
The then Czech President Václav Havel , who lived near the initially fallow property for decades, supported the construction project. He hoped that the building, which was planned as a cultural center, would bring new cultural activities.
According to the architects' ideas, the building symbolizes a rational dialogue between a totalitarian, static, vertical concept on the one hand and a dynamic, social upheaval on the other. In addition, it is reminiscent of a dancer in a glass pleated dress who gracefully hugs the gentleman. For this reason it is also often called Ginger and Fred (after Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire ).
The deconstructionist construction resulted in its completion in July 1996 to a passionate guided heated discussion, which now largely subsided. The critics saw the destruction of the entire ensemble in the nearby old town of Prague, and the overbuilding of the footpath had also created a source of accidents. Proponents praised the bold modern architecture that Prague has hardly had to offer before.
History of the site
At the current location of the dancing house, there was a residential building that was accidentally destroyed by American bombers until 1945. After the rubble was cleared and the area leveled, it remained a wasteland . Milunić discussed with Havel around 1991 the possibility of building a cultural center here. The idea was to accommodate a library , a theater and a café that would be in the Rudolfinum's cultural line . However, no investor was found for this idea. Milunić initially wanted to win the French architect Jean Nouvel for a collaboration, but did not succeed. However, Gehry thought the idea was good and brought his design ideas to the table. The Dutch insurance company Nationale Nederlanden (Nationale Nederlanden Real estate) acquired the land and financed the construction during the project phase . The foundation stone was laid on September 3, 1994.
architecture
Due to the location on the bank of the Vltava and right next to a bridge , the building planners chose a concrete slab that rests on many concrete pillars driven into the ground. 99 curved, specially manufactured facade elements form the cladding of the building. The more static side of the building (which symbolizes the man) carries the head of Medusa formed by means of coated stainless steel fabric tubes at the top of the tower . The building is nine floors high, the two parts are vertically separated and not connected to each other on the individual levels. The pillars on the ground floor extend beyond the footpath to the edges of the street. Six floors are rented as office space, with a French restaurant on the top floor with an area of 679 square meters. The ground floor and basement can be used as conference rooms with a total area of 400 square meters. In 1997, the American magazine The Time awarded the building its design award. According to a survey, it is one of the 5 best buildings in the Czech Republic in the last 90 years .
Web links and sources
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Dancing House on www.archiweb.cz (Czech) ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on September 21, 2014.
