Architecture should reflect its era and place, but strive for timelessness.
The famous Dancing House is a must-see for any tourist in the crowded Prague.
Canadian-born Frank Gehry (1929-) burst onto the international architectural scene in 1997 with the opening of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, which epitomized deconstructivist architecture: structures in which angular planes and structure are irrationally designed in a visual attempt to consciously challenge established principles.
The worldwide euphoria over the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao turned Gehry into an international “starchitect,” overshadowing his other, equally significant creations. His first major project was the California Aerospace Museum (1984), in which he turned the curtain walls “inside out” to expand the exhibition space.
This early structure of his formed the basis for the Vitra Design Museum (1989) in Weil am Rhein, Germany, and the curved lines and angular planes of the glazed Weizmann Art Museum (1993) at the University of Minnesota. It was these structures that formed the basis for the design of the Dancing House in Prague, known as “Ginger and Fred,” owned by Bank Nationale-Nederlanden. The sponsors of the project changed its original purpose from cultural to administrative.
Here, architect Gehry acted as an associate of Croatian Vlado Milunic, a friend of President Vaclav Havel. Milunic lived next door to the vacant lot tapped for the building; previously, a house bombed by the Americans in World War II had stood on the site. (Note that all of the street’s other eclecticist houses form a stark contrast to the new construction.)
The Dutch insurance company Nashional-Niederleiden, which owned the site at the time, set a condition – to attract Gehry to the project. The idea of such an unusual house, which broke all stereotypes with its appearance, was totally rejected by the Prague high circles, including the artistic community. However, the president, oriented towards new ways of development of the country, insisted on the approval of such a truly anti-totalitarian project and its realization. Thus, a boring office building became a true attraction.
The corner of the building is fixed by two rounded towers connected by a “bridge”: one is a regular cylinder mounted on a single support, and the other has a bend in the middle, like a female and male figure leaning against it, expanding downwards in a dance. “Ginger and Fred” – so named his creation Gehry, remembering the legendary Hollywood dancers-movie stars (though, not wanting to bring into common use populist Americanism, did not insist on it). The Czechs, on the other hand, call their architectural marvel simply “The Glass” and have long been proud of it.
Nevertheless, the name “Dancing House” is the most common. The asymmetrical shifts, the waves of movement, the sense of disruption of coordination and, conversely, of dynamic stability are fascinating. All of this echoes, in parameters of more calming amplitude, and continues in the lines of window openings on the undulating floor vectors of the most stable side of the building. Today, the upper level of the building is home to La Perle de Prague, a restaurant overlooking the tranquil waters of the Vltava River.
Gehry’s creations feature wild forms made possible by an adaptation of the SANA program developed in 1977 by French aircraft manufacturer Dassault. The Dancing House was Gehry’s first project created using this program. Although the exterior of the structure is still the subject of controversy, this program allowed Gehry to create a modern design that reflects the expressive styles of the past, from the Vienna Secession to Art Nouveau.
The unusual 8-story structure of steel, glass and plaster gives the impression of a modern Baroque monument against its historic surroundings. The façade-side entrance with its curved, interlocking towers is named “Ginger and Fred” in honor of 1930s Hollywood dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The tilted towers serve as a tangible expression of Gehry and Milunic’s ideas for a structure that reflects static and dynamic forces.
Czech President Vaclav Havel intended that the site be given to cultural use. He commissioned Czech architect Vlado Mulinic to study the area. However, when the Nationale-Nederlanden Bank came into play, its management brought in a famous architect. Gehry was chosen.
The Dancing House is the result of a collaboration between the two masters. Its vertical composition and visually distorted facade anticipate Gehry’s vertical creations, from the small Stata Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2004) to the giant skyscraper at 8 Spruce Street (2011) in New York.
Architectural features of the Dancing House:
A glass “skirt” frames the graceful legs (supporting pillars);
Václav Havel, President of the Czech Republic, patronized the construction of the house;
Ginger” tower, like a passionate dancer, presses itself against its partner;
The top level of the building is the Pearl of Prague restaurant;
The syncopated rhythm of the window arrangement on the tower is continued on the facade of the neighboring wing of the building;
The Dancing House was erected on a vacant lot created after a bombing raid by American aircraft at the end of World War II.
