The court postponed the dispute over whether the competition for the new NK was fair

Amanda Levete

Prague - The District Court for Prague 1 was supposed to address today the dispute regarding whether the competition for the design of the new National Library (NK) building was legitimate. The studio HŠH architekti, which finished third in the selection process, entered into the dispute with the NK. According to them, the jury should have disqualified the winning design by Jan Kaplický right at the beginning of the competition, as it did not meet the competition requirements. Due to disputes regarding the entry of another participant into the proceedings, however, the court did not even proceed to reading the lawsuit. The proceedings have been adjourned indefinitely.
   "The dispute arose from the belief that the National Library, through the jury and its representatives on the jury, did not evaluate the competition for the national library fairly,” said the studio's managing director Tomáš Hradečný to journalists. According to him, the conditions changed during the selection process. One of the conditions set before the first round of the competition required architects to place the National Conservation Fund above ground, which Kaplický did not fulfill. "The design that won is maybe so nice because it is very small in mass," stated the company's lawyer Ivan Chytil.
    The studio is now seeking compensation for damages. They demand that the library pays them approximately 1.6 million crowns. According to Chytil, this amount represents the difference between the reward for third and second places, to which HŠH architekti would have advanced after disqualifying Kaplický's design.
    Today, the London-based company Amanda Levete wanted to join the NK as an intervener, which, according to lawyer Ilona Kindlová, is the legal successor of Kaplický's firm Future Systems. The British architectural studio is concerned that it might lose 160,000 euros (about four million crowns) due to the dispute. "It is a so-called compensation that is to be paid to the winner if a contract for the execution of the project is not concluded within 24 months after the result of the competition is announced,” stated NK representative Jindra Pavlová.
    According to Pavlová, the library has not yet paid this amount to anyone, but it has deposited it with the court. It is said to be waiting for the outcome of this court case and the inheritance proceedings after the deceased Kaplický.
    However, the court did not allow the Amanda Levete company to intervene in the proceedings. Both Pavlová and Kindlová have appealed against this decision. Proceedings can thus continue only after the Prague City Court rules on the appeal.
    The studio filed a lawsuit in the fall of 2007. Before that, the architects had repeatedly turned to the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS), which again stated that it could not assess the competition for the design; it can only do so if the competition is announced according to the Public Procurement Act.
    Kaplický's design won in March 2007 in the architectural competition, but it has not been realized. President Václav Klaus and Prague politicians, including Mayor Pavel Bém (ODS), opposed the library in Letná. Now, according to the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes, the Civic Democrats have changed their stance and are negotiating with the architect's widow about building according to his design.