Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The
communist
style, which flourished from the 1950s through the 1980s, is typic-
ally derided these days for resulting in ugly, nondescript buildings, but some critics
are starting to soften their views. It's not that the buildings are good, but at least
they're bad in an interesting way. In the 1950s, architects were forced to design in the
bombastic Stalinist, socialist realist style, such as the former Hotel International (now
the Hotel Crowne Plaza; 1954) in Dejvice. The 1970s saw a communist version of
Tower (1987) in Žižkov dates from the end of the communist period. Its sheer scale
dwarfs everything around. Arguably the most interesting structure of the
post-Velvet
Revolution period
is the so-called Dancing Building (1992-96) in Nové Město, de-
signed by Czech-based Croatian architect Vlado Milunič and American Frank Gehry.
The building's resemblance to a pair of dancers spurred the nickname 'Fred and
Ginger', after the legendary dancing duo of Astaire and Rogers. Some of the best new
architecture is going up in former industrial districts, such as Smíchov, Karlín and
Holešovice, including the refurbishment of a former factory to create a space for the
