HŠH architects are filing a complaint with the Office for the Protection of Competition

Prague/Brno - The HŠH architects studio, which finished third in the international competition for the construction of the new building of the Czech National Library, today filed a complaint regarding the course of the competition with the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS). Tomáš Hradečný from the HŠH studio told ČTK this. The reason for the complaint is the alleged violation of the binding conditions of the competition. The ÚOHS must first study the submission before it can determine whether it is appropriate to deal with the case, said Jindřiška Koblihová, vice-chairwoman of the ÚOHS, to ČTK.
    HŠH architects proposed a building in the shape of a large coffee bean covered with a continuous silver shell. Even finishing third in a similar competition is considered a great success for the studio by experts.
    "We have been protesting against the actions of the National Library's management since the announcement of the competition results. We also filed an objection against the course of the competition within the statutory deadline, but the library's lack of communication forced us to file a complaint with the ÚOHS," said Hradečný. He considers the delivery of letters from two different law firms representing the National Library to be insufficient.
    The subject of the complaint is primarily the alleged violation of the competition condition to place the most voluminous part of the building, namely the book storage, above ground. The winning studio, Future Systems, has it underground, which allowed them to reduce the mass of the above-ground part of the building.
    The competition organizer, the director of the NK Vlastimil Ježek, argues that the rules of the competition allow for adjustments after the first round. The rules of the International Union of Architects (UIA), which governed the competition, state that "if necessary, the jury may clarify or emphasize certain points of the assignment at the conclusion of the first round." "It is therefore unacceptable for conditions to be adjusted or even changed," says Hradečný.
    Architects also disapprove of the organizer's claim that the conditions are set solely by the UIA and that no Czech entity can assess a violation of those conditions. The competition was also conducted according to the domestic law on public procurement and according to Hradečný's assertion, the National Library's claim applies only if a foreign entity is also funding the subsequent realization, such as financing from European grants. In this case, however, the construction is to be funded by the Czech state, and according to the architect, the competition should also be governed by Czech law.
    Seven other Czech studios also protested against the alleged violation of the competition conditions with the Czech Chamber of Architects. There is a two-month deadline for submitting a complaint to the ÚOHS after the participants in the proceedings are notified. However, seven studios did not advance to the second round of the competition, so they were last "in the game" in November of last year. The organizer, however, published those who advanced to the second round only shortly before the announcement of the results. However, the two-month deadline for these competition participants had long since expired by then, Hradečný explained.