International Union of Architects: New National Library building tender was fair

The International Union of Architects says that the tender for a new National Library building in Prague was fair. In an unofficial response to an inquiry by eight Czech architecture studios dissatisfied with the results of the contest, the Union confirmed the position of the international jury that chose the project by Czech-born London-based architect Jan Kaplicky. The results of the tender were published in March and immediately provoked criticism based both on technical and aesthetic objections. The new National Library should be finished by 2010 on Prague's Letna Plain and will cost about two billion Czech crowns.