Havels Hearts Vaclav Havel was president of the Czech Republic when I first came here in 1996. He was obviously held in high regard by many and certainly those with artistic/cultural backgrounds. He was a reluctant president and known as a politician with a heart. This all started back in 2002. Havel had been elected … Read More
The Prague Book Tunnel Visiting the main city library normally doesn’t make anybody’s top ten list of things to do in Prague. That’s a shame because you will have missed out on seeing a quite bizarre yet striking piece of architectural art. It’s acquired the name of the Prague Book Tunnel but read on to … Read More
Gothic Prague Architecture – The Old Lady of Architecture Humanity has always sought out ways to improve and the Gothic Prague period was no exception. It took basic rules of Romanesque design and applied the latest building techniques. This resulted in construction of some of the most iconic buildings still visible in Prague and includes … Read More
Romanesque Prague Architecture (or Norman) If you are from England then you can see examples of Romanesque architecture in most major cities. It’s just that we don’t call it Romanesque, we call it “Norman” so you are in the period roughly between 800 and 1150. Signatures of Romanesque Prague architecture (which can also be called … Read More
Prague Art Nouveau – A New Kind of Art Prague has become synonymous with Art Nouveau even though in my experience people, at first glance, get Secessionist and Art Nouveau mixed up. In general, on the external side you can spot Prague Art Nouveau by looking for organic decorative features. Trees, flowers, branches/vines and fruit … Read More
Secessionist Prague Architecture What you now have to realize is that the last thousand years of design and architecture has been dominated either by Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance or Baroque, each holding for no less than 200 years apiece. That’s a lot of history and religion. Note that I now run a Prague Architecture Tour for … Read More
Baroque Prague Architecture – Style with a Twirl Even though Prague is most associated with the modern era of Art Nouveau, it’s greatest influence by far is Baroque. You don’t just see Baroque Prague, you feel it, you touch it, you hear it. Baroque was certainly a reaction to the fairly plain decorative nature of … Read More
Renaissance Prague Architecture The Prague Renaissance period saw a lot of social and technological change but it did not come with groundbreaking architectural design ideas as had been noted in the Romanesque and Gothic periods. It was more about artistic ideas and decorative styles to aesthetically improve the appearance of a building and not the … Read More
Prague Brutalism and Functionalist Architecture Prague Brutalism can also be called post-Modernism. Pretty much everything after 1897 could be grouped under the term “Modernism” even though we have different and specific names for it in many European countries. It just marks the separation of the “historic/religious” work from everything since. Brutalism is not just about … Read More
Prague Art Deco Architecture – The French Connection It should come as no surprise that “Arts Decoratifs” should become popular first in Paris but to be fair to Belgium the origin was in Brussels and as an individual art form it was simply known as “Art Deco” by 1925. Of course the style of Decorative … Read More