The Gulliver airship / Vzducholod Gulliver - DOX in Holešovice (Prague)
N 50° 06.420 E 014° 26.846
33U E 460486 N 5550673
One of the most interesting pieces of Prague’s architecture of the decade, 42 m long steel and wood multifunctional space called Gulliver, "landed" permanently on the roof of DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in district Holešovice in December 2016.
Waymark Code: WMV62J
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 03/01/2017
Views: 32
One of the most interesting pieces of Prague’s architecture of the decade, 42 m long steel and wood multifunctional space called Gulliver, "landed" permanently on the roof of DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in district Holešovice in December 2016. This unique monumental architectural intervention, inspired by the elegant shapes of early twentieth-century airships became a new permanent space for literature since March 1, 2017.
In 2008 the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague first opened its doors to the public as the result of a private initiative by its current director, Leoš Válka, and his partners. The reconstruction of a former factory into a multifunctional space was soon nominated for the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award, and for the past eight years the institution has continued to fulfil its mission: to create a space for research, presentation, and debate on important social issues, where arts in dialogue with other disciplines encourage a critical view of the so-called reality of today’s world.
The construction of a giant wooden airship “suspended“ above the DOX Centre is yet another testament to Leoš Válka´s personal conviction that is reflected in the DOX Centre’s overall philosophy: that even in today’s fast-paced, globalized world where nothing that cannot be calculated, evaluated, or predicted is worth risking for, “things can be done differently”.
In 2013 he invited internationally acclaimed architect Martin Rajniš, the 2014 winner of the Global Prize for Sustainable Architecture, to join him in realizing what he calls "a dream of 12-year-old boys". For more than two years together with wood and steel specialists they have been working on the design of what finally turned out to be a 42 m long and 10 m wide structure inspired by the shapes of the giant airships that began to cruise the skies at the dawn of the 20eth century.
The shape of the Zeppelin is symbolic. The early Zeppelins represented the optimistic ideals of a new era of unprecedented technological advancements. With their remarkable monumentality and hypnotic dignity that would continue to fascinate generations to come long after they had vanished from the skies, they have always embodied the eternal human desire to fly, and have represented a certain utopian ideal.
The airship is to bear the name of one of the most famous characters in utopian literature. Gulliver will serve as a space for reading and public discussions of literature related to the themes of DOX’s exhibitions, which typically offer a critical view of particular aspects of the contemporary human situation.
[excerpted from DOX website]