Amanda Levete defends her stake in Kaplický's projects

London - In an interview with the Sunday edition of The Independent, Amanda Levete, the former wife of Czech architect Jan Kaplický and an architect herself, defended her creative involvement in projects of the Future Systems studio. According to the newspaper, they were "the most famous couple in British architecture and together created the most distinctive buildings of the last decade: the blob of the Selfridges department store in Birmingham and the press box at the cricket stadium in London."
Following Kaplický's sudden death in January, many people celebrated his life and work, but these tributes were sometimes accompanied by negative reactions towards Levete, the paper wrote. It recalled that there was much written about her creative relationship with Kaplický, where she was portrayed as the "implementer" and he as the "creative genius."
This approach annoys Levete, according to The Independent. While she acknowledges Kaplický as a "giant on the architectural scene," she emphasizes her significant creative contribution to the successes of Future Systems.
"When I met him, he was an extraordinarily respected figure who had many unrealized works behind him. That was not my case," said Levete, who is 18 years younger than Kaplický. "That created a certain dynamic in the relationship. But when I gained confidence as an architect, the balance leveled out. Not in terms of reputation, but in how I felt - when I realized that I could influence people."
She emphasizes that although Kaplický's drawings were the starting point and inspiration for their best projects, she also participated deeply in the design. She identifies the press box at the cricket stadium in London as the most important building they created together, which was a key turning point for Future Systems in 1995.
Levete recalls how she attended a meeting to present a proposal alone. "Jan didn't go, and that may have been a good thing because we would have lost that job. When he encounters resistance, Jan is not very good...he wasn't a good diplomat," Levete continues to shift from present tense to past tense.
Even though Kaplický is rightly acclaimed as a visionary and uncompromising architect, his work with Levete does indeed raise a fundamental question of architecture: Does creativity begin and end at the drawing board, or is the ability to bring a project to realization part of the creative process? asked The Independent.
"In a way, Jan could have been happy even if he only continued with his drawings, which had a great influence. But for me, what's exciting about architecture is the building," Levete said. "Jan was very much old school. He made a sketch that others then developed or based their work on, but he never fundamentally changed the design. I rely much more on collaboration."
Levete also recalls how she met Kaplický at his secret lecture in Prague in the late 1980s and how they broke up. After 20 years together at Future Systems, they hardly spoke and worked at opposite ends of the studio, The Independent reported.
"Over the years, it escalated. We started to disagree on design issues, on small things like color for a building. It went from minor things to significant ones, but it didn't create creative tension, which would have been fine. However, the problems were never resolved, and the disagreements became more and more evident. I did what I could. People here will attest to that. It wasn't easy to work in such an office," Levete said.
But at the end of last year, they finally agreed that Levete would stay in the studio and Kaplický would move out while retaining the name Future Systems, the paper wrote. But then, in mid-January, Kaplický suddenly died in Prague, and Levete lamented in a published tribute to Kaplický that they did not reconcile while he was alive.
"It's sad because I'm convinced that after we split, we would have regained mutual respect. I was his biggest critic and his biggest fan," Levete stated. "I was among the few people who dared to criticize him. When it worked, it was really great, and when it didn't...," she left the sentence unfinished.
"I asked her what she would say to him today if she could talk to him. She looks down. I think she's pondering her answer, but after a moment, I realize she's crying," the reporter from The Independent wrote.