Angels in the Architecture

The Dancing House

Nationale Nederlanden Building

I walked up in anticipation to see this beautiful building I have been wanting to see for months now, and experiencing it in real life did not compare to the many pictures I had seen. This majestic building is unique to a city where most buildings were built before the 19th century. The building is called the Dancing House and it is located in Prague near New Town. Although most of Prague’s architecture is neo-classical style and many other older styles, the building I wanted most to see is one built in modern times. The architect who built it is the famous (and sometimes infamous) Frank Gehry, who also built the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. The Dancing House is an office building, with a French restaurant on the roof. It serves as a landmark here in Prague and overlooks the Vltava River. The building that was located here before was bombed in 1945. The Dutch bank ING agreed to build an office building here and wanted a world-renowned architect to design it. Frank Gehry agreed and built the non-traditional building in a decontructivist style. The building resembles a couple dancing and is also known as Fred and Ginger. The Dancing House not only represents the values of Frank Gehry which are being original and making beauty out of chaotic forms, but it represents how he wanted to create a building that would in a way both stick out but seem natural to the surroundings. The scale stays true to the other buildings while showing modernity through its design. The rhythm of the building represents the transition that make the building be so unique yet flow with the rest of the Prague architecture.