Cubist Language
Prague architecture: Baroque, Gothic and Cubism? I confess that even though I've lived in Prague for over two years, I knew little about this intriguing style. But such a distinctive artistic movement, which has influenced everything from street lamps to saucers, certainly deserves closer study.
Cubism spread to the Czech lands before World War I. In 1911, the Group of Fine Artists, of which the architect Josef Chochol was a protagonist, was formed. He and others were interested in façades broken up by sharp angles, which created the effect of light and shadow seen in Cubist paintings. The Cubist architectural period was brief but productive, and unique to the Czech lands.
Many examples of it are found in Prague and probably the most famous of all is Neklanova No. 30, which was built in 1913 and designed by Chochol. It's a tall, impressive tenement building and is in stark contrast to its neighbours. It's built on a steep site, which emphasises its appearance and enhances the play of light on the elevations.
It's very fitting that this style took root in a country whose language itself is full of angles and points. When I first visited Prague, in 1993, the Czech language fascinated me because it seemed so unfamiliar and exotic. I'm still fascinated, even as I bumble along, trying to remember that elusive case ending for the seven thousandth time.
So many Czech words seem to be made up from letters that earn you very high marks in the English version of Scrabble, but not in the Czech version of the board game. The ultimate angular feature of the language is the hacek, the little v-sign that hovers over so many Czech words. When you look at the Cubist building at Neklanova No. 30, it faintly resembles a page full of these diacritics. I can't think of many buildings like that.
And just as Cubist buildings have a strongly mathematical character, it seems fitting that my experience of trying to create sentences in Czech often feels like forming complex mathematical equations.
So, if you want a different angle (pardon the pun) on Prague's architecture, why not go on a Cubist trail to see examples of a unique and highly creative period in Czech architectural history.
