Check out the new "willfully silly" Prague Library
Bold National Library design wins praise, raises eyebrows
by Kristina Alda / Prague Daily Monitor / published 5 March 2007
Architect Jan Kaplický's design for the new National Library building in Letná was inpsired by the shapes of sea creatures.
Jan Kaplický, the Czech-born British architect behind such acclaimed buildings as the Lord's Media Centre in London and Selfridges department store in Birmingham, once joked that in his native country he hasn't been allowed to design so much as a trash can or a park bench.
That changed last week when a panel of judges announced it had chosen Kaplický's UK studio, Future Systems, to design the new National Library building in Letná. Most critics applauded Kaplický's typically bold plan and say the architect is finally receiving the recognition he deserves in his homeland, but some find his whimsical structure too unconventional.
"It's probably the most important opportunity of my architectural life," Kaplický told Právo Friday. "It's an incredible honour for me, and I believe it will be the most modern building in the world."
National Library Director Vlastimil Ježek announced the competition results Friday. The project, which attracted some 350 design proposals from around the world, is slated to be completed by 2011. The main structure of the building will be ready a year earlier. The tender was the first architectural competition here that adhered to the rules of the International Union of Architects.
"Although it might not seem like it at first glance, the library is perfectly organised," Ježek told Právo. "It's also a very bold design."
Culture Minister Václav Jehlicka said he envisions the library as a place where people come to meditate. "It will be an open multi-media intersection," he said.
The Culture Ministry set aside CZK 25 million for the competition and has earmarked CZK 1.9 billion for construction.
The building's undulating exterior, which has been likened to a sea creature, will be covered in thousands of champagne-yellow tiles and features large, round windows offering panoramic views of Prague Castle. The interior resembles the inside of a spaceship.
Most of the library's storage capacity will be underground, leaving plenty of light and open space in the upper levels.
The unusual design has already generated a great deal of discussion. Zdenek Lukeš, a respected architectural historian, is among the project's supporters. "It's typical Kaplický," he told Lidové noviny Saturday. "This project belongs on Letná. It's necessary to add something new to the varied mosaic of Prague buildings. This project does that."
Artist David Cerný agreed, telling LN, "It's super. It's a miracle that something like this is actually happening in this country."
But architect Micha Šrámek called the design "willfully silly." Šrámek said a building's exterior should reflect its function. "It's modern and bold, but I don't recognize a library in it at all," he said.
Kaplický, born in 1937, was rejected by the Czech Technical University when he applied there as an aspiring architecture student. He eventually earned his architecture degree at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. In 1968 he emigrated from Czechoslovakia and settled in Britain, where he founded Future Systems in 1979. He has won renown for the startling originality of his designs and is the only British architect who has worked on projects with NASA.
Kaplický says he expects plenty of controversy and public debate about the new library building." I think even my shoes will now become the topic of passionate discussion," he told Lidové noviny Saturday. "That's part of life. We can't please everybody."
