Tančící dům by Chipka
Close
Hover over top left image to zoom.
Click anywhere to exit.
Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.
Description
Photographic conditions were not ideal on the day that I photographed Prague’s Dancing House. In Prague, all buildings are houses, no matter how large or how unrelated to human residence they may be. I had good company on that day, however. I’d spent most of it with Kača, Maruška, and Štepán, and as evening made its first tentative whispers, I met with Pavl.
We walked. We talked. We smoked. And long after sunset, we drank beer, had friendly words with Jana (Pavl’s sister) and then spent much of the evening doing the things one does on lazy evenings in Prague. We listened to music, smoked, talked, and at night’s end pecked one another’s lips in friendly departing kisses.
Tančící dům—Czech for “dancing house” is one of the famous landmarks of Prague. It’s a marvel of…well…something. Diminutive in size, it is a violation of the Art Nouveau vibe of the city. It’s a bit more like Czech humor, loopy, way out in left field, and a little bit prickly on top. Well, Czech humor isn’t so much prickly on top as just flat out dark. In many, many, many Czech jokes, death is the punch-line. But jokes and architecture are two different subjects, and so we’ll go into Czech punch-lines a bit later; this is about that crazy looking building standing at # 80 Rašínovo nábřeží, right across the street from the Vltava River. What’s not to like about that: my favorite city populated by some of my favorite people on Earth, my favorite river? It’s all a good thing, and I’m incredibly happy that I found this example of a good day in my home city. I remember what Pavl and I talked about, and I remember how much Štepán and I drank, and how much we smoked…we stole some of Kača’s cigarettes, too. She pretended not to notice.
I’d emailed this picture to Moscow, and so I had a copy of it hovering around in digital limbo. Since I found it, I decided to post it. I’m amazed that such potent memories have been stirred, but then when they’re attached to a building like this, they can only be potent.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a warmer and drier week than it’s proven to be in the winded city.
Comments (36)
Nathan_Ruby
Very cool picture. I would like a unique house like that haha. Great work :)
KateBlack10
That is awesome - really cool picture. I bet your friends are glad to hear from you with remininces (sp?) of your time together. Really nice photo, I would love to see what it looks like on the inside.
NefariousDrO
That's one heck of an amazing building, that sure would be hard to forget. Part of me hopes someday I'll make something so striking and memorable. Very cool picture!
jclP
Very cool capture
beachzz
Oh wow, I just love this building and your foto of it!! A house that dances---wow, I'd love to live there. And how cool that your shot of it brings back such great memories. You're right, hanging with friends, doing all those things together,, well, it's just the best. I remember a couple of nights in Chicago doing the same things. sigh
tizjezzme
What an interesting architecture! Reminds me of a Dr. Seuss building. :)
SerenityBlue
Not only dancing, but seem to be hugging each other. Love is in the air. Makes for a fantastic image.
Orinoor
This is great, so unique and alive, like it's just aching to move and jump!
auntietk
I love Gehry's work, and it's great to see this dancing house! Did you know it was originally supposed to be called "Fred and Ginger?" How fun is that! We have a Gehry building here in Seattle ... I'll show it to you one day! :) Excellent capture of this inventive architecture. Glad you found it running around in digi-world!
Tholian
Very "Fred Astaire"-ish here. I'd say the architects have their own warped senses of humor there. };-) Not usually into photography but this did catch my eye.
lwperkins
When I saw the thumbnail I thought perhaps it was a photomanipulation, but no, it's an architechural manipulation! So very cool and a pleasant reminisce to go with it!
Richardphotos
what a building
MrsRatbag
Wow, how strange and beautiful! Great capture and I'm so glad you found and posted it!
CaressingTheDark
Awesome shot of this amazing architecture
jocko500
wow this is cool building here
bimm3d
very beautiful building!!
kgb224
Funny looking building my friend. You did well considering conditions were not perfect for photographing this subject.
RodS
Most interesting and delightful architecture - great photo of it! This would be soooo cool to live in - for a while at least! :-D
Sepiasiren
wow--very kewl--I too would love to get a good look at the inside of this structure...thanks for sharing this awe-inspirign piece of architecture
Crabbycabby
Incredible building.
helanker
OH What a fantastic building LOL ! I get dizzy :-) But it is beautiful, kind of... and really interestring. We are so lucky to have memories, dont you think so?
whaleman
Czech humor, I like that! I get it too! The humor, like all good humor, was very carefully crafted! Speaking of humor, I went to a comedy night this evening, combined with a silent auction to raise money for cancer research. I donated six 11x17 photos to the auction. Only two received bids; one sold for $20, the other for $10. A few steps away, a photo of a newly-signed Oiler NHL hockey player went for a large sum. Half-way through the bids had already reached $275. I don't know what the winning bid was. So there was my humor for the evening, ha ha!
prutzworks
cool architecture
durleybeachbum
What a wonderful building! Such a great shot too , every detail so clear!
thecytron
Great shot!
jac204
Very interesting building. Brings to mind the MIT building in Cambridge, MA, which I have yet to see.
flavia49
marvelous image!
njb2000
may I take this opportunity to congratulate your latest award!, I would love to visit Prague and you do a fabulous job of showing the place off as well as the artistic text!
sandra46
sublime Chip, and the mood is perfect too!
danapommet
This is an amazing sight Chip. Incredible architecture, great find and share. I have a Power Point presentation that I should find and send to you. It is the 50 most interesting buildings in the world. Tančící dům should be in there. Dana