<Dancing House celebrates 15 years since its completion>

Prague - In Prague, many new buildings have emerged in recent decades, but bold modern architecture struggles to find its place here. An example is the fate of the design of the National Library by Jan Kaplický. One of the few exceptions is the so-called Dancing House by architects Vlado Milunić and Frank Gehry on Rašínovo embankment. Over the 15 years that will have passed on June 20 since the official commencement of the house's trial operation, this unconventional building has become one of the city's symbols and a tourist magnet. However, this project was also not unambiguously accepted. Its supporters appreciated the bold modern architecture that is lacking in Prague, while opponents argued mainly that it does not fit into historical Prague and disrupts the urban panorama.
     In the places where the Dancing House was built between 1993 and 1996, there formerly stood a house that was destroyed during an American air raid on February 14, 1945. The decision to develop the vacant lot was made as early as 1963, but a major step was not taken until 1992, when the plot was purchased by the Dutch insurance company Nationale Nederlanden. The project by the Czech architect of Croatian origin, Vlado Milunić, was selected for realization, who invited the renowned Canadian-American architect and designer Frank Gehry to collaborate.
     The idea to build on the plot was revived in the early 1990s by Milunić together with President Václav Havel, who lived in the neighboring house. The original idea envisioned a building with a library, theater, and café, which would connect the cultural line from the Rudolfinum through the National Theater to the Mánes. However, it was not possible to find an investor for this non-commercial project. Nationale Nederlanden set conditions for commercial use of the building and participation from a leading world architect.
     Milunić initially considered the French architect Jean Nouvel (whose design later resulted in the Zlatý Anděl in Prague's Smíchov), but was successful only with Frank Gehry. As Milunić later noted, the hockey fan Gehry said at the time that he would do anything for a country that gave America Jaromír Jágr. Gehry is known, for example, for the construction of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, which was completed a year after the Dancing House. It is said that Gehry used the Prague project to test the possibilities of 3D computer modeling, which he later successfully used in Bilbao and other projects.
     The cornerstone of the Nationale Nederlanden Building, as the building was officially named, was laid on September 3, 1994. The structure is based on a reinforced concrete slab supported by a system of drilled piles. Ninety-nine original facade panels are attached to the reinforced concrete construction. The unofficial name given to the building is due to two towers that resemble the figures of dancers. Therefore, the building is sometimes also referred to as Ginger and Fred, after Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. At the top of the tower symbolizing the male figure is a dome made of tubing covered with stainless steel mesh - the head of a jellyfish.
      The building has nine floors with a vertical division into two parts. Due to the shape of the building, each floor is different. This also causes certain impracticality - asymmetrical rooms are difficult to arrange, and slanted walls can feel overwhelming. The building also protrudes from the street line, obstructing pedestrians.
     The usable area of the building is 2,965 square meters of office space on six floors, a restaurant covering 679 square meters on the top floor, and a conference center (400 square meters) in the ground floor and basement. Part of the interior was designed by the renowned architect Eva Jiřičná.
      The Dancing House received the highest design award in 1997 in a prestigious survey by the American magazine Time. In a domestic survey by the magazine Architekt, it ranked among the five most significant Czech buildings of the 1990s. The Czech National Bank selected it as an example of a contemporary building for one of the ten coins it issued as part of the cycle "Ten Centuries of Architecture." Today, photographs of the building can be found in guides and publications about architecture.