Jul 16 2008
Dancing House of Prague
Dancing House of Prague
Description and history of the Dancing House of Prague and its restaurant as well as how to get there.
The Dancing House is an office building in downtown Prague, at Rašínovo nábřeží 80, 120 00 Praha 2. In the surroundings you will find many Hotels in Prague where you can enjoy the closeness to the river Vltava and the great view. The building was designed by Vlado Milunic a Croatian-born Czech, together with the American architect Frank Gehry, best-known for the stunning Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, on a vacant riverfront plot, after the bombing of Prague in 1945. Although the Dancing House has another name: Ginger and Fred. The name comes from an allusion to the American film icons Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers it vaguely resembles the pair of dancers. The building is a component of the tradition of deconstructive architecture, also known as catastrophe architecture. Built between 1992-1996, Dancing House is a strikingly a beautiful modern contrast to Prague’s historic attractions. Although Valdo’s first idea was to have a building with two different parts in dialogue, like static and dynamic, like plus and minus, like ying and yang. The house is an amazing combination of three different architectonical: styles Neo-Baroque, Neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau. The Art Nouveau is the item that fits better with the city of Prague, recalling Mucha and all of the vestiges situated all over the city of this attractive artistic style. This building has a great connection, not only with the people of the Czech Republica but also with the History of the country as Vlado Milunic confirms with the following words: “The building had to reflect the situation of a Czechoslovak society who had forgotten the totalitarian past and moved into a world full of change.”
Up there you will find La Perle de Prague restaurant, on the top floor of the famous Dancing House, offers magnificent views over Prague. By stepping out from the lift and there is a small, stylish, air-conditioned restaurant, surrounded by windows on three sides. Looking out, will give you a beautiful view of the Prague Castle, the Vltava River and Charles Bridge all before you; resplendent in the daytime and awe-inspiring at night. The building’s other tenants include also several multinational firms of great prestige like the Dutch insurance company. Because it is situated next to a very busy road and it depends on forced air circulation, making the interior somewhat less pleasant for its occupants it was never thought of a cultural plane for the building.
The most different and original building of the city of Prague was from the start a very non-traditional design controversial at the time. The Czech president Václav Havel, who lived for decades next to the site, had supported it, hoping that the building would become a center of cultural activity.
It is located on the corner of Resslova and Rasinovo Nabrezi, about a hundred meters downriver from the National Theatre. You can get there easily by taking the following trams: 17 and 21 to Jiraskovo Namesti, 3, 4, 10 to Moran or 22 and 23 to Karlovo Namesti. Or you can get there by subway by taking the line B, the yellow one, to Karlovo Namesti.