Dancing House Essay Example
Dancing House Essay Example

Dancing House Essay Example

Available Only on StudyHippo
Topics:
View Entire Sample
Text preview

Title of Building: Dancing House Name of Architect: Frank Gehry Date Completed: 1996 Illustration of Work: ? Frank Gehry.

Dancing House. Prague, Czech Republic. http://www. columbia. edu/~beecher/prague/Dancing_House/0600/dancing_building_1. html.

Part 1: Description of This Building Dancing House by Frank Gehry, was a building that was started in 1992 and was finished in 1996. The building obviously resembling a couple dancing, was first named after Fred Astair and Ginger Rodgers, two of Hollywood’s dancers from the 1930s (Favermann).At the top of the building sit’s a French Restaurant, with the remaining buildings being office buildings. Construction is from 99 concrete panels each of different shape and dimension, each therefore requiring a unique wooden form (Dancing House). The original purpose of this building was to ultimately replace a previous building that was bombed down

...

in 1945 (Dancing House).

Part 2: One Characteristic of Postmodernism in This BuildingAlthough there may be several obvious characteristics of Postmodernism that can be seen in this building, one of the more obvious is the extraordinary construction of the building that brings about a whimsical response. By incorporating humor and playful details, Postmodern buildings liberate the imagination of the architect, as well as the viewer (Vandermast). This can be seen in the way that Gehry constructed The Dancing House to resemble a couple dancing. The building consist of two sections, the left section of the building that appears to have a feminine feel to it, and the unusually haped cylinder section of the building that has a more masculine feel. The left side of the building appears to resemble a woman.

This becomes more obvious when the different aspects of that particular building are broken

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

down. First, towards the mid region of the left side section of the building, it seems to have a smaller look to it, almost taking on the feel or look of a female’s waist line. Looking further down, the building is constructed in a way that causes the viewer to imagine the woman wearing a flirty skirt as she dances with her partner.Lastly, there are several long columns that appear to be her legs as she leans romantically towards her partner as they dance. The second section of the building has a more masculine feel to it, leading us to believe that it is the male figure of the couple. This can be seen in the way he holds his partner closely and with his back towards the water, dances with her, leading her around the other side of the building.

One may also notice some what of a ledge towards the middle section of the buildings, that looks like the arms of the couples as they hold tightly to one another.Normally one would not expect to find a building like this, however it brings about a pleasant feeling to several viewers that have had the privilege to see it. That warm, yet silly feeling one gets when they see this building, is exactly what post modern architects were going for. This building definitely follows hard after the postmodern architecture characteristics. Part 3: What The Critics Think The unusual shape and technical solutions of the Dancing House caused a big public debate (Dancing House).

Many felt that it did not go with the look or feel of the buildings that surrounded it. Some critics, like Simonetta

Carbonaro, have called the building a ‘Dancing Palace,' 'a new jewel of the city's architecture [... ] that is adding a new aspect to its history’ ( Dancing Building in Prague). Josef Singldinger's comments are similarly positive: he said that “Fred and Ginger” marks a clear contrast to the rather boring recent architecture found elsewhere in Prague (Dancing Building in Prague).

Ms.Carbonaro was correct, the building definitely does add something extraordinary and a bit extravagant to its surroundings. I agree with Mr. Singldinger’s statement as well regarding the breaking away from traditional architecture that is more commonly seen. It is very refreshing to see something that you don’t see every day.

Although I am sure that there are some people that may have some negative thoughts regarding The Dancing House, for the most part, just the mere glance at this building strikes up a warm feeling and perhaps a smile.Part 4: Why This Building Appeals to Me This building appeals the most to me out of so many because of the warm feeling that I have when I look at it. Not only does it break away from the normal every day architecture that we all see every day, it really has a romantic feel as well. From a building that resembles a couple dancing together, to a French Restaurant on the top of the roof that over looks the waters, the building just screams romantic to me. I enjoy looking at this building, and I think that Gehry is an outstanding architect.Works Cited “Dancing House, Prague.

” Galinsky. 14 Nov 10. Web. 18 Nov.

2010. Dancing House. Illustration. Prague, Czech Republic. 30 Jan 04.

Web. 18 Nov. 2010. Favermann, Mark.

“Frank Gehry's Dancing House in Prague“. Berkshire Fine Arts. 18 Nov. 2010. Gehry, Frank.

Dancing House. Prague, Czech Republic. 12 Nov. 10. Web. 18 Nov.

2010. Vandermast, Roberta. "Characteristics of Postmodern Architecture. " 10 Nov 18. Valencia Community College, Orlando, FL.

“From Yin and Yang to Fred and Ginger: The Dancing Building in Prague. ”

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New