# National Library, Prague



## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*It's big, it's bold - but are the citizens of the Czech capital ready for this?*
The London-based architect who was behind the Selfridges store in Birmingham and the media 'pod' at Lord's cricket ground won the contest to design a national library in his native Prague - but he has already run into fierce resistance to his futuristic plans 
6 January 2008
The Observer










Great libraries are part of any civilised nation's self-identity. The classical manuscripts in Michelangelo's Biblioteca Laurenziana (which opened to the public in 1571) literally gave the Florentines ownership of the antiquity which so pre-occupied them. Then there was Paris's slowly evolving Bibliotheque Nationale and the British Museum of 1753. Washington's Library of Congress followed in 1800 and is probably the largest in the world, although the Lenin State Library in Moscow (formerly the Rumyantsev Museum Collection) is not far behind - in size, if not in readability. 

So it is not, perhaps, surprising that plans for a new National Library in Prague are controversial. This will be the largest new building in the new Czech Republic, a country still by turns euphoric and anxious about recent upheavals. It is more than a book store: it is as much about democracy and prosperity as it is about books. Indeed, its designer, the Anglified Czech Jan Kaplicky, says, 'This building couldn't even be conceived in a dicatorship.' Just 40 years after the Soviet T-54 tanks grimly rolled in belching diesel and trailing dogma, Kaplicky intends to unroll a cheerful architectural spectacular of colourful globular modernismo all over a sacred part of historic Prague. 

The site is Letenske Sady (Letna Park), just across the Vltava river from Kafka's old Jewish quarter where the paranoid author of the Bohemian ghetto worried that a 'cage went in search of a bird'. From the library site there are great views of the city's famous bridges; and there's revolutionary history here too. In 1962 a statue of Stalin was ceremoniously blown up. So, everybody is delighted that the Czechs are at last free to build, unconstrained by the suffocating conservatism of the Soviets or the equally suffocating folklorique inheritance of 'Magical Prague'. (In the Czech language, we are told, the word 'Praha' is feminine. . . like love, death and night.) 

Well actually, no they are not. What with all this nocturnal love and death, they are passionate people. The Mayor doesn't like it. The current President of the Republic doesn't like it. Even the director of Prague's National Gallery (whom Kaplicky describes as a 'failed artist'), not however paid to be a professional philistine, says the striking conceit is too 'strong' for the delicate grain and texture of the historic quarter. Kaplicky says yah-boo and argues that the Saint Nicholas Church (1735 by Ignaz Dientzenhofer) had its enemies too. But Vaclav Havel is on-side. The poet-President said: 'I had the feeling that the eye of the library, blinking over the green of the park. . . could stand like an embodiment of the past centuries.' I am afraid the thing is, a lot of very influential people are keen for that same embodiment of the past centuries to remain just as it is without interruptions from modern architecture. The threat, Havel says, is that 'averageness and banality [will] triumph again'. 

Kaplicky is determined that it will not. But then he is a determined person. He left Prague for London penniless shortly after the T-54s arrived in 1968, finding himself in Richard Rogers's studios in time to be an influence on the design of the epochal Pompidou Centre in Paris. He moved on to Norman Foster in time to be involved in the Willis Faber building in Ipswich, the design which made Foster's reputation. There is a pattern here. In 1981 Kaplicky was denounced as a pornographer because his architect's impressions featuring bikini-clad lovelies degraded women. In 1982 he founded Future Systems in London with his then wife Amanda Levete and has ever since prosecuted strikingly original, if not always entirely rational, building designs. His inspirations include aerospace and high technology and it is irresistible to see in his consistent infatuation with the slick lustre of machinery a neo-erotic yearning for the shiny, material things so cruelly denied him in his austere Soviet-era youth. 

The National Library's enemies have called Kaplicky's design an 'octopus'. Enemies of interesting modern buildings often seek refuge in puerile nursery imagery - carbuncles, wirelesses, gherkins and so on - when they cannot organise credible arguments. Still, it is significant that Kaplicky chose an image of a jellyfish for the front endpapers of Phaidon's recent monograph on Future Systems. He takes his inspiration where he can: the Media Centre he designed at Lord's was inspired by naval architecture and had to be fabricated in a boatyard and shipped to the MCC grounds. Some cricket correspondents have complained about certain functional deficiencies in the Media Centre's operation, but no one has ever said it was boring. Kaplicky's astonishing Selfridges in Birmingham looks as though it has landed from outer space, much to the benefit of all too surly, down-to-earth Brum. A boldly organic, windowless blue conceit covered with reflective metal plates, it has caused the client some disruption to conventional methods of retailing, but remains the most remarkable monument of Birmingham's rebirth. 

Prague had not many precedents for a National Library. There was a failed competition for a new building in 1960, but the city has since had to make do with the hangover of the Klementium (an 18th-century Jesuit college). But in 2004 Vlastimil Jezek arrived as new National Library director. Moved by ambition and purpose, Jezek organised an international design competition. This is the very stuff of architectural careers, and for Kaplicky finally to make his mark in his home city was an opportunity that involved chutzpah, revenge and pride. There was massive interest in this opportunity to make this pounds 50m monument in a much-loved city. Seven hundred and sixty architects registered interest and eventually there were over 350 entries. Fellow Anglo-Czech '68 escapee Eva Jiricna, as well as Zaha Hadid and Dominique Perrault were on the jury. Jiricna is a strict modernist; Hadid a globulist-geometrician and Perrault a builder of monuments. 

Kaplicky's winning design was not so much a compromise between all three as a combination of them all. It is a 48m tall, irregular structure inspired, perhaps, by a handful of Play-Doh being splatted on to tarmac by an insurgent Russian military vehicle. A floppy jellyfish of coruscating triangular tiles sits above a podium of white marble. In photographs the tiles look green but are, in fact, champagne-coloured. Only 15 per cent of the glob is glazed for maximum thermal efficiency. Above ground are public spaces, reading rooms, ace caffs and so on, accessed by ramps. The 10 million books are consigned to a lightless, 15m deep undercroft served by the machines Karel Capek taught us to call robots (from the Czech for 'forced labour'). This automated retrieval system means readers can get access to the book of their choice within minutes; in the British Library, it can take weeks. Kaplicky's National Library is a monument not only to the new spirit in the Czech Republic, but to the interpretation of reading as a liberal, discursive, exploratory activity so nicely described in Alan Bennett's recent novella, The Uncommon Reader . You didn't have that under communism. 

Never mind the local difficulties of Prague, with its doleful share of post-revolutionary fogeys: this is a difficult moment for libraries everywhere, now reaching the end of their natural life as institutions. Benedict's Rule explained that a 'biblioteca' was merely a book cupboard; only when rolls turned into codices and papyrus changed into vellum were standalone libraries called for. Obviously, the great libraries belong to the Gutenberg era. Now their practical role is under scrutiny. Colin St John Wilson spent his entire working life on the magnificent British Library only to find ink conceding to electrons before it was complete. They had a similar experience in Paris where Dominique Perrault built what became known as the TGB (for Tres Grande Bibliotheque) out in the Tolbiac suburbs of eastern Paris. Competely useless as a storage or research facility, its sole purpose was to be a monument for Mitterrand who died a few weeks after its opening in 1995. 

Eva Jiricna says the mood in Prague is politicised and somewhat disillusioned. And Jan Kaplicky's design for the city's National Library would be a demanding one at any time. Context and subtlety mean less to Kaplicky than rhetoric and commitment. In some ways, the act of building a National Library in the age of the podcast is as quaint as wanting to preserve the colour-washed cottages and pantile roofs of old Prague. In other ways, Kaplicky's insistence on the most uncompromisingly technological interpretations of modernism is idiosyncratic. There is an enlarging taste for responsive, flexible buildings, adaptive to their environment and capable of reuse. This is not one of them. But, and it's a big one, how wonderfully exciting to see stuffy old Prague at last getting ready to see its first excellent building since the 18th century. 'A thousand ages in thy sight are like an evening gone.' 

In October, Kaplicky debated his design on Czech television with the Mayor of Prague. He seems to have won over the public: 12,000 people have signed a petition insisting it is built. Kaplicky told the influential architecture trade magazine, Building Design : 'I think there is a generation against it who grew up with communism and who don't have experience of democracy and tolerance.' I called to ask him what the position was at the beginning of 2008. He said 'It's going to be built'. Just before Christmas Kaplicky presented the design to the Deputies. Perhaps influenced by the success of the telly debate which, Kaplicky says, has people hooting in the street and the passport guys at the airport saying 'good luck' to him in English, the politicos have nodded it through. Kafka wrote: 'It is not necessary to accept everything as true, one must only accept it as necessary.' Quite so. Eva Jiricna added: 'The baby has been born and it will need a lot of care to turn into an adult of some integrity.' This amazing design is really and truly a part of Czech national identity.


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## Brummyboy92 (Aug 2, 2007)

HMMMM, Its nice, however the colours bring the rating down for me. Sorry but it is not very attractive from my point of view.


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## arzaranh (Apr 23, 2004)

yichuke:


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## Brummyboy92 (Aug 2, 2007)

When I first read the introduction and it said he was the person behind Selfridges in Birmingham, I was expecting something stunning. However I guess not!


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## Askario (Nov 13, 2007)

In which part of the Prague is it planned?


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## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

The design's nice, but I don't like the colours.


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## zerokarma (May 29, 2005)

looks like an alien ship landed


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Satellite Photo of Location*
http://www.nkp.cz/competition_library/ENfoto.htm


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## Askario (Nov 13, 2007)

zerokarma said:


> looks like an alien ship landed


Looks like a brain slug from Futurama:lol:


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## Tarzan (Dec 5, 2006)

Not my style, actually the design is ugly.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Gallery of stage II. competition designs


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## djm19 (Jan 3, 2005)

Not a fan. I think its too organic looking. And the colors make it look like some kind of alien or a microscopic life blown up to building size.


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## addisonwesley (Jun 19, 2005)

Is modern architecture so plain and boring that we have to resort to these retarded and contorted shapes to make 'interesting' buildings? This is a really desperate attempt at creating a landmark. It seems like something that would belong in a travelling circus rather than a permanent home for a national library (unless they plan on taking it down within a decade).


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## Brummyboy92 (Aug 2, 2007)

The one I would have liked to have seen built is the second one of the competition designs.


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## Vecais Sakarnis (May 22, 2007)

Weirdo. Not in the best sense of word.


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## redstone (Nov 15, 2003)

Looks like some alien slug monster.


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## Dallasbrink (Nov 2, 2007)

WTF? are they serious?


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## rimorski (Jan 26, 2007)

BUILD THAT CHEESE!


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## Dallasbrink (Nov 2, 2007)

They should just stick with the Square one. Its bold but not over the top ridiculous.


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

hkskyline said:


> It's big, it's bold - but are the citizens of the Czech capital ready for this?













kay:


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

*Prague: will architect's death mean new life for 'Octopus' library? *
4 March 2009
Agence France Presse

Critics say it looks like "frog spit" and the Czech president vowed to block the project "with his own body", but all that may now change with the sudden death of radical Czech architect Jan Kaplicky.

Despite international fame, the London-based Kaplicky drew mixed support for his octopus-shaped plan for Prague's new national library, which reluctant officials saw as a grotesque intrusion in the historic capital.

"It's a dispute between an idea and the establishment," said Oscar-winning Czech film director Jan Sverak, who backs the plan chosen by an international jury.

The architect, who left for the British capital after the 1968 Soviet invasion, has worked on ground-breaking projects like the spacecraft-like media centre at Lord's cricket ground in London and the Pompidou Center in Paris. But the "Blob", as its dubbed, would have been his first project back home.

"At last Prague will see something new, something very contemporary," said Kaplicky's close friend and fellow architect Pavel Bobek.

With the "Octopus", Kaplicky lived up to his reputation as an uncompromising visionary and driving force in new architecture -- a nine-storey, 45 metre-high (148 feet) champagne-coloured edifice with a large "eye". It was designed for Letna hill overlooking Prague, not far from Prague Castle and the picturesque city centre.

But the plan hit a wall of rejection from Prague's right-wing city council, triggering heated debate in a capital passionate about its mediaeval, Renaissance, Baroque, Art Nouveau and Cubist heritage but lukewarm about contemporary architecture.

Only three, big-name projects -- by Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel and Ricardo Bofill -- have altered Prague's cityscape in the last two decades.

President Vaclav Klaus, the spiritual chief of staunch Czech right-wingers, led criticism, saying he was ready "to prevent its construction with his own body".

In the end, city hall dropped the new library project.

But Kaplicky's unexpected death, at age 71 on a Prague street in January hours after the birth of his daughter, has revived interest. A student initiative on the online social network Facebook drew some 2,000 people to an unusual rally in central Prague last month in support of the "Octopus".

-- 'This will be a tough job, they are a dead set' --

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With the 1989 Velvet Revolution long past, Czechs rarely take to the street, notably to promote cultural freedoms. The last time was in 2000-2001 when journalists and intellectuals demanded the resignation of the public TV service head, who was seen as an ally of then parliament speaker -- ironically Vaclav Klaus.

"Our primary goal is to show our support for the national library, but above all we want to fight meddling politicians," said one of the rally's organisers, Jan Libicek.

Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg was among the demonstrators. "Prague is beautiful but it is not a sealed tin," he said, adding: "Kaplicky's project is prodigious."

In another initiative last month, 300 people, including film director Sverak, built a model of the library from second-hand books on Letna hill.

We must "persuade the elected officials" to start the project, said Sverak, "and this will be a tough job, because they are a dead set."

On Monday, Prague mayor and Klaus follower Pavel Bem gave a hint of a possible concession.

"The 'Octopus' or 'Blob' design is interesting, extremely attractive from the architectural point of view but it can't stand on Letna," he said, without elaborating.

A pro-Octopus petition has been started by one of Bem's predecessors, architect Jan Kasl who stepped down as mayor in 2002 to protest what he called right-wing councillors "catering to their personal interests rather than to those of their fellow citizens".

The international jury saw the technical parameters of Kaplicky's library as a strong point, including a large underground space for 10 million books, a lecture hall and study areas.

Its supporters include the former head of the national library Vlastimil Jezek, who was sacked in the row over the "Blob".

He said the current facility, a former Jesuit college completed in 1723 in the Clementinum palace in Prague's centre, was outdated. "We've known that the Clementinum is unfit for at least a century. We must act."

Like others, Jezek is also upset that the country has no building by its native son, whose landmark works include the aluminium Selfridges store in England's central city of Birmingham and the Maserati Museum in Modena, Italy.

Anything but dull, Kaplicky often drew inspiration from natural or anatomical forms such as spider webs, butterfly wings or fish scales.

With octopus tentacles, he has had little luck so far.


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## Inkdaub (Dec 28, 2006)

It looks like something seen through a microscope.


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## erbse (Nov 8, 2006)

Like a virus?


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Renderings 
http://www.archdaily.com/16886/kaplickys-controversial-prague-library-may-get-built/


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## balthazar (Jul 19, 2007)

any news?


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## lanbui (Aug 13, 2011)

I think its organic looking.


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## segwaert (Aug 3, 2011)

very ugly. it looks like snot


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## Concrete Stereo (May 21, 2005)

It's as visionary and contemporary as designing another ball chair.

What's it with this conceptless-hyper-conceptualism that makes people think it's visionary? It's the end of a wave, a wave that created great and undoubtly smart and visionary buildings, but it is now pulling back leaving only the rubbish it carried. 

It happens every 15 years or so - a great new wave comes, builds up to epic proportions, and when everyone jumps in the wave flattens, becomes muddy and shallow and pulls back while its juices dry out in the sand.

My advice: anybody designs anything that looks remotely like the contemporary rococo things built at the EXPO shanghai: don't do it. The architects that build it don't believe in it either anymore. They are the wives of deceased past starchitects making a living.


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