8 . D A N C I N G
H O U S E
JIRÁSKOVO NÁM. 1981/6
The Dancing house was built in the years
1992 - 1996 . The house that stood there
before was destroyed during the American
air bombing of Prague on the 14th February
of 1945 . In 1992 the land was bought by the
Netherlander insurance company Nationale
Nederlanden . They selected the building
project from the architect Vlado Milunic and
the worldwide acknowledged architect and
designer Frank O . Gehry was invited to
cooperate . This co - operation gave birth to a
unique deconstructive building with plastic
elements , which at the same time
harmonizes with the surrounding buildings .
It is one of the few Prague houses that
dynamically enters the space of the street .
The building is metaphorically called the
Dancing House or also Ginger and Fred . It is
named this way because of the towers
reminding of the famous dancers Ginger
Rogers and Fred Astair . The male part of the
dancing couple is represented by a rock
tower and the woman is symbolized by a
tower made of glass . The top of the male
tower is covered with imaginary hair . The
author is Frank O . Gehry . The interiors were
partly designed by the British architect of
Czech provenience Eva Jiřičná . Nowadays ,
there are hotel in the building , gallery and a
luxury restaurant with a terrace and a
beautiful view . The building was awarded the
prestige prize of the American Time
magazine - it won the category of design in