Vlado Milunić celebrates his seventieth birthday

Prague - Czech architect of Croatian origin Vlado Milunić has made a name for himself in public awareness and the history of architecture primarily through the Dancing House, which he designed together with Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry. He is also known for his views on the design of Prague's housing estates and as a co-author of several social buildings. A native of Croatia, who has lived in the Czech Republic since his youth, will celebrate his 70th birthday on March 3.
    Milunić's most famous work - the Dancing House on Rašínovo nábřeží in Prague - was created in the mid-1990s. The building, which provoked many rejecting reactions, became one of the symbols of Prague, reportedly the third most photographed object in the metropolis after Charles Bridge and Hradčany. The administrative building, nicknamed Ginger and Fred for its "dancing" silhouette, has won several awards, including "The Best Design Of 1996" from the American magazine Time.
    Another significant project by Milunić is the residential complex Hvězda in the Petřiny housing estate in Prague. This atypical colorful housing estate is valued by a number of experts as an exemplary contrast to gray concrete housing estates. The "humanization" of panel housing estates is one of Milunić's frequent themes. "It is necessary to build new structures on the vacant spaces between the panel buildings, create winter gardens, and build rooftop extensions. But it is essential that different architects work on each part of the housing estate to avoid monotony," he said. An example of his vision of how the housing estate should look is the project for the Malešice housing estate center, which, however, was not realized.
    Milunić's work is by no means limited to large projects that attract media attention. For instance, in the 1970s and 1980s, mainly in collaboration with architect Jan Liněk, he realized a number of social buildings in Prague - retirement homes in Bohnice, Malešice, Chodov, and Háje, as well as a home for nurses in Prosek. He does not limit himself to Prague or the Czech Republic. According to his project, for example, an atypical villa was created in Planá nad Lužnicí in South Bohemia. "The design was created through theft. I stole from Frank Lloyd Wright, my friend Frank Gehry, and Bruce Goff," Milunić admitted to being inspired by the greatest architects in the world. Abroad, he participated in the creation of the so-called Czech quarter in Shanghai, China.
    Milunić is also a frequent critic of corruption, clientelism, and other social ills, not just in architecture. He is also known for his opposition to the construction of high-rise buildings in Prague. "The new high-rise buildings in Pankrác are in contradiction to how the capital city is composed. City Tower, that is a cupboard on the horizon," he said in one of his interviews.
    Vlado (Vladimir) Milunić was born on March 3, 1941, in Zagreb. He has lived in Prague since he was 16, when his parents emigrated from the former Yugoslavia. From 1960 to 1966, he studied architecture at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He then worked in Paris for three years. From 1969 to 1990, he worked in Prague studios Gama and Delta. Since 1990, he has had his own Studio VM.
    In 1998, Milunić was one of eleven personalities honored by the Prague City Hall on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the founding of the republic. Silver medals were awarded to individuals who contributed to the international fame of Prague.