Architect Kaplický to receive compensation if his National Library project fails

Saturday’s Lidové noviny writes that the Czech-born architect Jan Kaplický, author of the winning design for a new National Library building in Prague, will be entitled to roughly 5 million crowns (300,000 USD) in compensation if he decides to pull out of the project. The Czech National Library which organised an international competition for the design of its new building, says financial compensations are stipulated by the statutes of such international competitions. Mr Kaplický’s futuristic design, nicknamed “the Blob” has been the subject of heated debates over the past year. Among its strongest opponents are Prague mayor Pavel Bém and the Czech president Václav Klaus.