Prague's Dancing House Facts, History & Architecture

-Prague's Dancing House is an architectural wonder.

1. Introduction

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is rich in a variety of sights, especially historical ones. But there are also a great number of modern places of interest. One of them is the Prague Dancing House, a highly original building resembling and also inspired by two dancers – the immortally famous duo of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

The Nationale Nederlanden building, known as the “Dancing House” or sometimes “Fred and Ginger”, is one of the most significant landmarks in Prague and definitely the most internationally renowned piece of post-1989 Czech architecture. It is home to almost 3000 square meters of office premises, a restaurant, a gallery, and a conference centre. Most importantly, there is a sightseeing terrace on top of it, from which you can overlook the breathtaking panorama of Prague.

Probably the Most Original Building in Prague – The Dancing House.

2. Dancing House History

The story of the Dancing house reaches back to the end of World War II, when the previous building standing on the site was destroyed during the bombing of Prague by the Allies. During the Communist era (1948 – 1989), nothing was built there, and it was only after the “Velvet revolution” when Václav Havel came with a vision.

The world renowned Czech dissident, writer, philosopher, and later the last president of Czechoslovakia and first president of the Czech Republic (after the Czech Republic and the Slovakian Republic split in 1993) wished the site to be used for building up a new centre of cultural and social life. It would symbolise the arrival of democracy to Bohemia after 1989, an exciting era full of hope.

View of the Dancing House and Vltava River.

Havel contacted his neighbor from the house next door, a renowned Yugoslav-born architect called Vlado Milunić. His design already involved the idea of leaning the building out over the crossroads. However, later on (in 1992) the piece of land was bought by the Nationale-Nederlanden insurance company, which resulted in a rather significant change in direction. The Dutch company’s representative preferred having a modern local headquarters over a cultural centre.

But at the same time, it turned out that – as chance would have it – one of the leading representatives of the bank was a friend of Vlado Milunić and liked his project. All the above mentioned factors, together with the company’s wish to have an internationally renowned architect working on the building’s design, resulted in a compromise. Frank Gehry, a famous Canadian-born American postmodernist architect, was invited to co-operate with Milunić. Together they created a design combining the original idea with a new outlook. They created the “Dancing House”, as we see it at the Rašín Embankment today. The cornerstone was laid in 1994 and the operation of the building began two years later.

3. Architecture & Structure

The unusually shaped building, an example of the deconstructivist architectural style, is based on a reinforced concrete construction with 99 differently shaped adjoined facade panels. The frontispiece consists of two towers, resembling a dancing couple. On the top of the Dancing House, there is a dome, called “Medusa” for its shape. The building has 9 floors and the rooms in it are asymmetrical. The house reaches over the street line onto the pavement.

The Dancing House is Amazing Even During the Night.

4. Controversy

Nowadays, the Dancing House is considered one of the most valuable postmodern buildings in Prague and an important part of the Czech capital’s architecture, but there were times when it sparked a lot of controversy. The opponents of the building were convinced that the Dancing House would not fit into its surroundings, since most of the buildings in its neighbourhood are in the Art Noveau style.

There was also a great dispute about the highly unusual shape of the building, with the impression of the towers leaning. However, the Dancing House proved itself to be a true architectural gem of Prague, and today you would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t like or at least accept it.

6. Opening Hours, Tickets & Entrance Fee

There is of course no entrance fee to the building itself, and the building is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The terrace with its amazing view is accessible via the Glass Bar.

• Gallery is open every day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the entrance fee is 190 CZK.
• Restaurant is open everyday from 11 a.m. to midnight.
• Glass Bar is open everyday from 10 a.m. to midnight.

                                  |Prague Czech republic|