The Dancing House or also known as Fred and Ginger is in the city of Prague in the Czech Republic, it is the building for the national Netherland in the region. The building has been designed by two architects from different regions: Vlado Milunic from Croatia-Czech and the other was an American Canadian architect Frank Gehry. The design of the building is so different and unique that one is not able to understand whether to praise or criticize it. The building was designed in 1992 and it took four years to complete the construction. Prague is famous for building designs related too gothic, baroque, and even Nouveau. Even though there was a lot of criticism from the entire region but the people living close to this construction site were in favor of it, hoping that one day it will become a culturally important building enhancing the activities of the region. The name that was initially given to the building was Fred and Ginger based on two famous American dancers but the idea was dropped as it may offend the local people of the region for not boosting the local talent or stars.
History:
The location of the dancing house carries great importance as it was built on the area where a house was destroyed by the US bombing in Prague during 1945. Around 15 years the damaged property was not given importance and then a famous architect presented the idea to the semi owner of the land that what he had in mind. He was a neighbor to this land area as well, and he came into some power in the later years. His influence and connections helped the architect give shape to his ideas with all the support. This man was little known as Václav Havel. He was a well-known leader and later became the president of Czechoslovakia. Due to the history of the land the Dutch insurance company had agreed to sponsor the funding required for the building. The sponsorship required teaming up with a famous architect from another region, a few architects declined the offer as the land area was very small, but the American Canadian Architect took up the challenge.
Structure of the Dancing House:
The dancing house is structured in a very nontraditional method known as deconstructivist, the shape of the building is very unusual, and the dancing shape of the building is supported by 99 concrete panels. Each of the concrete panels had to be designed in a unique and specific way with different shapes and dimensions. The top of the building is made of twisted metal known as Mary. In the middle of all the square and rectangle buildings, this odd building had two major parts. Curved pillars that had been placed to support the glass towers, the second is what runs parallel to the river with unique moldings and widows that are not aligned with each other.
A tower made of rock is used to represent one of the dancers and there is a metalhead that is also placed on top of it. The second dancer is represented through the glass tower. An attempt to make a three-dimensional effect had been made by architects, the windows had been placed in such a way that it is difficult to understand how many floors are there and in a way that it should look very different and unique from the building around it. The building is based on 9 floors where two floors are underground.
Interior of the Dancing house:
The exterior and the interior have been done by different architects, the interior was mostly done by a British architect, Eva Jiřičná. Due to the unusual and irregular shape of the building, the internal structure of the rooms was very asymmetric as well. The lobby and the first floor had been designed for commercial purposes, six of the floors for office spaces, and the top floor for a restaurant. The top was meant to be the restaurant due to the view from the windows. The building is uniquely designed like the internal of a ship with narrow hallways to make more space for the offices, as the building is very narrow due to the structure.
The Dancing House Today:
As of today, the dancing house has been renovated to a 21-room luxury hotel with the restaurant on the 7th floor. The restaurant is named after Fred and ginger, the dancers. There is a bar on the 8th floor which is made entirely on the glass. The building exterior and interior are considered a piece of art and now the building even has an art gallery in the building.
The Dancing house has been honored with its feature on a 2,000 Czech Koruna coin issued by the national bank. The design of the dancing house has won the design contest by Times Magazine in 1997 and is known as one of the five most important buildings by the architectural community.
