LilithE

The statue in the form of a female body hugging the building is called Lilith and has a biblical theme.

Lilith

In Prague’s Karlin there is a 35-ton statue of a woman, sculptor David Cherny “Lilith”, 24 meters high.

Lili

In total, the building is supported by 2 sculptures in the form of upper and lower limbs and one main sculpture – a 24-meter figure of a woman who “holds the whole house in her arms.”

The statue in the form of a female body hugging the building is called Lilith and has a biblical theme. At midnight, the head of the statue will also turn. “Lilith is the first woman who chose not to lie under Adam as he pleases. So, in essence, she left Eden, she was left.

Lilith

The statue of Lilith is not the only statue that will stand next to the building. Cerny also independently created parts of the human body for her. “It is clear that this foot is the foot of Adam, which he threw out of paradise. This hand, of course, is Gabriel’s hand. And there is another hand, and it comes out of the ground – Lucifer, ”he said.

“Inside there are cropped fragments of baroque sculptures. So, I figured it was a recumbent piece supported by some other larger or smaller pieces. This is how society works,” he added.

Lilith

From the very beginning, the goal was to link high-quality architecture and contemporary art to everyday life through the Fragment project and to bring the metropolis of Prague back to the forefront of modern architecture. We want to create original, functional and useful buildings that will leave a message for future generations and perhaps also provoke a little. A provocation in architecture is needed, and the exceptional location of the Roganskaya embankment in Prague directly required a unique achievement.

Lilith

The idea to support the Fragment with sculptures belongs to David Cerny. From above, the house itself resembles a recumbent figure, supported by sculptures – an arm, a leg and a woman. With its shape, the whole building reflects the place of the historical Invalidovna, opposite which it is located and which it symbolically pays tribute to with its shape. In its other meaning, a house with statues symbolizes sociality and community.

Small sculptures are made up of small elements that represent the cells of the human body. As in life, cells make up the body, and the little parts are put together to support the larger ones.

Lilith

The sculptures are made of noble chromium-nickel stainless steel with a mirror-polished surface, and their production, including preparation, took about 2 years. “Preparation has been carried out since 2020, production was started in January 2021. We delivered the first parts to Fragment on July 18, 2022,” says Petra Martinkova, representative of the Trigema group.

The fragment is unique not only for the iconic sculptures that support the house, but also for its architecture.

Lilith

Lilith is mentioned in Sumerian mythology as early as 5,000 years ago. As a companion of the goddess Innana, Queen of Heaven, she gathered men from the battlefield for sacred rituals. According to another legend, Lilith lived on the sacred tree of Innana, accompanied by a wise serpent and the wild bird Anzu. These creatures were part of Lilith’s wild nature, which Innana did not understand and asked her brother Gilgamesh to kill the tree. The snake was killed, the bird Anzu fled to the mountains, and Lilith disappeared into the wastelands.

This story may be the basis of the famous Hebrew myth of Lilith as Adam’s first wife. According to one version of the legend, Yahweh created both Adam and Lilith from the earth. He used impure waste to create Lilith, and created Adam from pure dust. Therefore, Adam expected some submission from Lilith, which the proud Lilith refused, and after the final conflict with Adam, she fled to the wastelands near the Red Sea, where she became close to the demons of evil and became the mother of demonic children, Lilim. Meanwhile, Yahweh created a new woman for Adam, this time from Adam’s rib, whom he named Eve. This woman was created from Adam and, unlike Lilith, was therefore not a separate being. But Lilith’s rebellion did not go unpunished. She was persecuted by the messengers of God, and her children were killed by the hundreds. The horror and pain she already felt caused her to take revenge on the men by visiting them at night as a demonic being and draining all the life force out of them. Other sources claim that she was punished by God for having to kill babies herself.

Lilith

However, there is another version of the legend of Lilith. According to her, in the beginning, God created a female creature from fire. However, she refused to be at the will of Adam, united with the serpent (or even became one herself) and went into the darkness of hell. (Some sources even claim that Lilith, in the form of a snake, gave Eve an apple from the tree of knowledge.) Three times God called Lilith to return and obey, and three times she refused. And so she was sentenced to live in darkness and give birth to demons. So God created Eve from Adam’s rib.