ČKA: The evaluation of library proposals was not in accordance with the law

Prague - The jury that evaluated the proposals for the construction of the new National Library building allegedly violated some binding provisions of the competition conditions, according to the International Union of Architects (UIA). "The UIA confirmed the stance of the Czech Chamber of Architects (ČKA). In it, the chamber stated that the evaluation of competition proposals by the jury did not proceed in accordance with the applicable law," said the chamber spokeswoman Markéta Pražanová to ČTK.
The allegedly violated provisions particularly concern the placement of the archive of the National Conservation Fund. The winning proposal by Jan Kaplický has it underground, while the competition guidelines stated that it should be located above ground.
The ČKA issued its statement just a week after the announcement of the competition results in March this year. The chamber, which requested the international union to verify the legitimacy of the competition, has now received the final stance of the UIA regarding the jury's work. UIA has also sent its objections regarding the supposed non-compliance with the competition conditions by the winner to eight Czech architectural offices that participated in the competition.
The National Library immediately responded at that time by publishing a text from two jury members, Eva Jiřičná and Petr Bílek, stating that the competition rules were not violated. Both jurors quoted Wolfgang Tochtermann, the director of the UIA competition commission who supervised the competition. "The results of the competition are absolutely in order and there is no reason for doubts," he stated at the time.
The current findings of the UIA and the opinions of Prague representatives from the ODS, who do not wish for Kaplický's library in Letná, will be commented on by the National Library only at today's press conference at 1:00 PM.
"The jury, driven by the desire to select the best solution for the competition organizer, violated some binding provisions of the building program, which was part of the competition conditions, especially the provisions concerning the placement of the archive of the National Conservation Fund," states the ČKA in today's statement.
The UIA further confirms, according to the Czech Chamber, its agreement with the ČKA in the view that the conditions of this provision significantly influenced the fundamental concept of the solutions of many competition proposals.
The ČKA now urges the competition organizer to align its decision on the competition results with other provisions of the competition conditions and to draw conclusions about the validity of the results of the competition and the appropriateness of expending public funds on the competition process.
According to earlier information, tens of millions of crowns were estimated for organizing the competition, with the total rewards for the first eight works amounting to 600,000 euros, or 16.5 million crowns.