Anti-monopoly office shelves investigation into legality of building Kaplický’s 'blob'

The Czech anti-monopoly office has said that it will not reconsider its stance on the legality of building Jan Kaplický’s proposed National Library building on Letná plain. The anti-monopoly office was asked to look into the legality of the selection procedure which chose Mr Kaplický’s ‘blob’ as the winning design. Two months ago, its head Martin Pecina said that he saw no reason why the competition should not be recognized, but, he said, he subsequently came under pressure from the culture ministry to reverse his decision. The culture ministry denies the allegation. On Tuesday, Mr Pecina told Hospodářské noviny that he was in no hurry to reverse his decision and that the case had been shelved indefinitely. Jan Kaplický’s 'blob' has proved controversial since it was picked to become the new Czech national library building over a year ago. One of the project’s most famous and most vocal opponents is Czech president Vaclav Klaus.

Author: Rosie Johnston