Dancing House Co-Designer Vlado Milunic Dies at 81

It’s located next to the building where the late President Vaclav Havel used to live. It was built on a plot of land that earlier housed a 19th-century neo-Renaissance building that was destroyed in a World War II air bombardment.

Havel is said to have been the first who talked to Milunić about making an architectural study for a possible arts center on the plot. In 1992, the Dutch company Nationale Nederlanden acquired it, seeking to build an office building, and Milunić approached Gehry to participate. He agreed.

Their nine-story project was completed in 1996 and was named among “The Best Design of 1996” by Time magazine.

The unusual architecture initially caused some controversy, with critics saying it didn’t fit its historical surroundings. But such arguments gradually disappeared and the building became a must-seen site for tourists alongside Prague’s historical landmarks like the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle.