the dancing houseokx

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The Dancing HouseIntroductionThe Dancing House (Tancici Dum) is a building in Prague, in the Nove Mesto district, and which

has been projected by the Czech architect Vlado Milunic and the Canadian one, Frank Owen Gehry.The site where it appears corresponds to a place devastated by an American bomb in February 1945.

The previous palace, which was built in the late nineteenth century, was seriously damaged and

then was completely demolished in the 60s. After the 1989s revolution, serious attempts were made

to find a scope for the site and in the 90s was built the present work.

In the project's early stages, Mr. Gehry talked about the building as "Fred and Ginger. This was its

original name which celebrated the american dancers.

The ArchitectsThe building was designed in

partnership by Gehry and Mr.

Miluni.

Milunic had the idea for a modern

building in the mid-80s. At that time

he lived in a palace in the

neighbourhood of the affected area. A

coincidence was the fact that Vaclav

Havel, the future Czech president,

lived in the same building.

Milunic pitched his idea of building amodern structure on the neighboring

vacant plot to Havel who supported it,

hoping it would become a cultural

center.

In his project, Milunic devoted a

particular attention to the idea of the

things that

suddenly they start to move, just as the

Czech society.

In the 90s the Nationale-Nederlanden(ING), supported the construction,


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which had to become their headquarter in Prague. For their building was requested the sign of an

international renowned architect. The first choice was the French architect Jean Nouvel, but he

declined since he deemed the plot too small for two architects. Then Miluni approached Gehry in

Geneva and he showed off his concept sketches for the building.

Frank Gehry accepted and, thanks to the virtually unlimited budget, he developed the Milunics

idea, that one of the two side by side buildings, one static and one dynamic.

The project was presented in 1992 and four years later, in 1996, the construction was completed and

the Dancing House became an icon of the new Prague.

CollocationThe selected site presents some particulary relevant features: its an angle in the middle of the

historical center, among Rasinovo nabrezi and Jiraskovo namesti (one of the only three where is

still allowed to build) and which remained vacant after an American bombing in World War II.

The west side opens to the Moldava river and the north side opens to a square surrounded by Neo-

Renaissance, Neo-Baroque and Modern buildings, crowned by a variety of turrets, domes and bay-windows.

A bridge connects it to the other side of the city, while a short distance away we find the Tower of

the Stitkovsky watermill built in the12th century, flanked by Manes Gallery, built by Otakar

Novotny in 1928.

Even the National Theatre is a short walk away.

StructureThe complex is made of two buildings very different, with on top a larger metal structure, a dome

dubbed the Medusa.The first of the two main buildings is a glass tower that narrows at mid-height and is strongly

supported by curved pillars, while the second building, on the river side, is characterized by

mouldings and windows,which are not aligned.

The structure is made of reinforced concrete.

At the base of Ginger, the

pillars start split and then

reassembled on the first

floor. The transparency of

the tower allows you to

follow the profile in anextremely dynamic way. Fred

instead relies on a single

cylindrical pier.

Gingers "dress" is formed by

a double glass-wall. The first

internal is mounted on large

triangular frames of stainless

steel.The external one has

function of pure coating, isnot rain-proof and is formed


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by more than 250 flat panels of tempered glass, a centimeter thick, all different in shape and size.

They are anchored to a structure with galvanized steel trough articulated universal joints specially

designed.

Both the glass walls and the relative support steel structure were built in Italy, respectively from

Parmasteelisa, Conegliano, and De Rossi Steel near Mestre. For a further test of proportions,finishes, construction details and wind resistance, in the laboratories of Parmasteelisa was made a

real object. The steel structure has been completely pre-assembled and checked first of galvanizing,

and then dismantled and transported to Prague for the final assembly.

The opaque part of the building is constituted by ninety-nine prefabricated panels of reinforced

cement. It also follows an irrational geometry obtained by an almost sculptural technique. Every

panel (3m x 3m) has a specific form. Each element was then covered with rock wool. The profile

was defined directly on the site cutting the panels of rock wool. Finally, specialized workers have

applied three layers of plaster , in order to obtain a well-polished surface, with edges perfectly

finished. Then these were reinforced by adding a special plastic profile to the network supportingthe first layer of plaster

(1 cm thick). Only Fred

panels (22 cm thick) are

supporting. The others

have no structural

function and are only 12

cm thick.

The windows have been

inserted directly into thepanels of reinforced

concrete. The frame

consists of standard

profiles of anodized

aluminum, mounted on

an adaptable frame,

especially designed, with

the external part made of

galvanized steel.

FunctionsHavel, head of state, desired it to become a cultural center, a building with a large library, a

bookstore, an art gallery, a multipurpose room, and on top, a coffee which enjoyed the view of the

Prague Castle on the opposite bank of the river

As the building program imposed, we can find commercial spaces and a caff on the ground floor,

offices plans above and a panoramic bar/restaurant, overlooking on the Hradcanys Caste on the

rooftop; two underground floors are for other commercial services and the technical rooms. The

tower plays host to several levels of conference rooms. The need to optimize the exploitation of the

permitted volume leads to add an additional level within the maximum height (seven floors)


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provided in the area. On the facade this anomaly is masked with a series of striations similar to

corrugated sheets superimposed and with stagger vertical windows. Three floors of the building had

been occupied by Andersen Consulting, a company with offices all around the world, who

established his headquarters in Prague for Eastern Europe.

MeaningToday Tanc Dum is recognized as an example of Deconstructivism, that branch

architecture, which denies the classical geometry of Euclidean type. For the same Frank Gehry, in

this case it could be talk about of Neo-Baroque. The overall glance tends to confuse rather the

visitor, who loses all reference to the traditional geometric lines, horizontal and vertical, that

characterizes the other buildings in this area of Prague.

The Dancing House is a building that has not roots or origins in the culture of Central Europe.

Rather than contribute to the cityscape of Prague,it shows itself as a flamboyant advertising for its

designers. The strongest controversy has found expression in some young Czech architects which still

followed an architectural movement in the eighties, revolting against Western design and

emphasizing the social function of architecture and the importance of honesty in its moral practice.

Summing up, the critics have declared the project as uncontextual: divorced by a panorama of homes

and offices, where all the buildings meet a certain height and a certain type.

The critics has also affected the local authorities,which were responsible to have derogated from the

regulation of the existing building, allowing sizes and features previously reserved only to special

buildings.Apparently, in this time the building is loaded with tension and political values, which

still had to meet a specific economic program.For this, maybe, the project was carried out with a

political strategy.

The initial intention of creating a strong visual reference is developed to the extreme consequences.

In a city that hosts Baroque buildings next to the cubist architecture, Gehrys project seems an act of

historical synthesis and recovery into the future, a place that combines the two faces (traditional

and modern) in Prague.

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