Luigi De Marchi, Author at CulturalHeritageOnline - CHO

Hlahol Building, Prague

A house built by a singing society, and decorated by the most famous hand of Czech Art Nouveau.

Two faces on one house: a grave stone front for the avenue, and a wild dance of ceramic and wood at the back.

A white palace scratched all over with ornament — carved, it is said, with everything from a workman’s tools to a cyclist.

A granite church that scandalised its own age: wounded angels carried on a stretcher, and a serpent coiled over the congregation.

A young nation built itself a memory in stone — part church, part castle, part fairy tale — before it even had a state of its own.

A bank dressed in the colours of a flag — the most joyful facade on a street full of Secession.

Four copper dragons guard a river crossing built from a brand-new material — and quietly became the emblem of a city.

A public swimming bath built like a cathedral — the biggest in the world when it opened, and a gift to the people who could least afford one.

The quietest building Gaudí ever made — and the only one his own city ever gave a prize.

Gaudí built a castle on the ruins of a real one — a private house disguised as the memory of a king.