Photograph copyright: MIKE BRUCE
This picture is from my colleague and friend Mike Bruce, the Deputy Editor (Features) of the Herald Sun, Melbourne's largest-selling newspaper. I'll leave it to him to tell the story behind the photograph ....
``Obecní Dům, or Municipal House, quickly became one of my favourite buildings during the year we lived in Prague. For several reasons. It's one of the best examples of the decorative art nouveau style for which Prague - among only a handful of other European cities - is renowned. Not only does its facade leap out at you as you approach the threshold of the Old Town, but also features a stunning art nouveau restaurant and a cafe, with the most beautiful chandeliers that form a kind of soaring jungle of glass that hang like a canopy over each room. Downstairs is the iconic art nouveau American Bar, upstairs is home to the Prague Symphony Orchestra.
``It was also here that the Czechoslovak nation was born in 1918. But my fascination, and frequent lingering, was for the mosaic on its facade - the Homage to Prague by Karel Špillar. I loved the way the mosaic would sparkle against the building's buttery facade in the spring and summer sunshine, and would provide that splash of much-needed colour against the concrete-coloured skies of the relentless Czech winter. If you're in Prague, brush your way past the red-coated and wigged Vivaldis and Mozarts spruiking concert tickets and head inside Municipal House for a lingering look.''
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