According to British newspapers, Kaplický left a significant mark behind

London - All major British newspapers today published material about the sudden death of Czech architect Jan Kaplický, emphasizing that his projects had a significant impact on British architecture and that "without them, Britain would be a duller place." They also revisited the disputes over his controversial design for the National Library in Prague.
According to The Independent, Kaplický was among the least compromise-prone architects of his generation. The newspaper Financial Times wrote that he was known for "a series of extraordinary and influential buildings."
"He was a distinctive and fascinating man who never chose the easy path. He was deeply moral, and his ethical stances, along with his unwillingness to compromise, undoubtedly cost him a much more successful career," wrote Financial Times.
According to them, "his extravagant projects could be challenging both for the budget and for the eye." They cite the Selfridge's department store in Birmingham as an example, which is "very distinctive, as well as controversial, but it transformed the city center."
"He was a man of careless elegance, which was in stark contrast to the gloomy pessimism that is a fundamental part of the Czech national character," wrote The Guardian in a full-page obituary. Kaplický's designs brought revolution to British construction. He was responsible for some of the most remarkable buildings Britain has seen, the paper stated.
It provides a list of his completed works but emphasizes that "even more remarkable were the buildings that Kaplický designed but the world will never see." One of them was the French National Library in Paris, which was already within reach of realization, but French President François Mitterrand ultimately decided that it should be built by a French architect.
In the Future Systems studio, which he founded in 1979, Kaplický developed a series of architectural drawings and montages mapping architecture in ways the world had not seen before, wrote The Guardian. It simultaneously highlights that Kaplický was significantly aided in his practical pursuits by his first wife and partner at Future Systems, Amanda Levete. Together, they began to transform Kaplický’s genius into built form, the paper noted. It recalled that after their marriage ended, the duo decided last October that Future Systems would also split, and Levete and Kaplický would each go their separate professional ways.
Financial Times emphasized that since 2007, Kaplický had been fighting for another extremely controversial project, the National Library in Prague. "The outrage caused by the proposal was exploited by politicians for their own ends, and the construction became a subject of political football. The whole affair deeply hurt Kaplický," stated the newspaper.
The Guardian, whose obituary features Kaplický's library proposal, stated that the project is typical of the author - "radical, exciting, and ahead of its time enough to provoke plenty of controversy." "It's a triumphant return home, a confirmation of his uncompromising forward-looking philosophy, and a tragically poetic conclusion to his remarkable career," the paper stated.
"Whether the proposal survives against local opposition without him remains to be seen, but let us hope Kaplický gets another shot at this. But even if he doesn't, at least he left his mark here and elsewhere. Britain - as well as architecture in general - would be a duller place without him," stated The Guardian.