The House of the Black Mother of God - the first Prague cubist building from 1912 - was designed by Josef Gočár, the 35-year-old architect, for the construction of Josef Herbst as a department store, and is the culmination of Czech Cubist architecture. The sculpture of the Black Mother of God from the 17th century, which gave a name to the building, was transferred from the original building and incorporated into the northeast corner.
The house stands on the site of the original baroque house of the Knights of Granov, after which it took over it´s name. It is interesting that the original Gočár design of the house did not meet the requirements of the building judge - the Prague City Hall - for perfect harmony with the historical environment. Gočár responded by adding other Cubist elements - for example a more cubist entrance or a balcony railing. In November 1993, this important Cubist house underwent a thorough reconstruction according to the Karel Prager project, during which it was rebuilt, the old coatings were removed and part of the glass roof was completed in accordance with the original Gočar design.
Dům U Černé Matky Boží – první pražskou kubistickou stavbu z roku 1912 – navrhl tehdy jednatřicetiletý Josef Gočár pro stavitele Josefa Herbsta jako obchodní dům a jde p vrcholné dílo české kubistické architektury. Plastika Černé Matky Boží ze 17. století, která dala stavbě jméno, byla přenesena z původní zástavby a zakomponována do severovýchodního nároží.
Dům stojí na místě původního barokního domu rytířů Granovských, po kterém převzal jeho název. Zajímavostí je, že původní Gočárův návrh domu nesplňoval požadavky posuzovatele stavby – pražského magistrátu – na dokonalý soulad s historickým prostředím. Gočár na to reagoval tak, že dům doplnil o další kubistické prvky – například více kubistický vchod nebo balkónové zábradlí. V listopadu 1993 se tento významný kubistický dům dočkal důkladné stavební rekonstrukce podle projektu Karla Pragera, během níž byl uveden do původního stavu, byly odstraněny staré nátěry a byla dostavěna i část prosklené střechy v souladu s původním...
Read moreThe Cubist Gem of Prague
The House at the Black Madonna is a fairly inconspicuous in the archectional Prague, but it has the same impact on Czech culture as any other architecture movement. I double down as a museum and a café, where you can eat desserts inspired by cubism.
I had the pleasure of visiting this establishment as part of a class trip about cubism. The exterior wasn't eyecatching until our guide for that day told us more about it. Entering the floors of the museum I was quickly dissapointed to have learned that taking pictures of the exhibition wasn't allowed, yet I had the urge to picture part of the stairway which had elements of cubism as our tour pointed out. The exhibition was really informative and gave me an idea of what to imagine behind the term "czech cubism" with a pretty collection of furniture, paintings and pottery.
After the exhibition I considered visiting the café in few floors down of the museum, but after a bit loytering and discussing with my classmates we came to the conclusion that the prices were on the high end for students. We had left without ordering anything even though everything looked delicous.
Over all I recommend you consider visiting this place on your next walkthrough of Prague's Old Town and coming inside to enjoy yourself some sweets or art...
Read moreDo they find this new check styler contextual we will have cubist buildings got straight angles, kind of pops out at you and the inside is the cutest as well so hard and brick café on the first floor it’s named after this building here which is called the black man building is the house of the black madonna is the name of the building named after the statue on the right side here and that is a black Madonna steer is shrouded in mystery and legends and there’s a few of them around Europe. They often receive a great powerful Christian cult. Kind of invented 1980 only me no no not for me OK I’m just just got a bit nervous thing, so yes basically a taco Christian cultivated banking and the idea was that they were able to take your money and allow you to get it back in Jerusalem. However, they got so powerful that eventually the password to this bad, and they disappeared and all...
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