Kaplický’s blob not to be built on Letná Plain

The winning design for a new national library building by the renowned Czech-born architect Jan Kaplický will not be built on Prague’s Letná Plain, Culture Minister Václav Jehlička told reporters after a government meeting on Wednesday. The minister cited financial reasons, saying the state could only afford to pay 2 billion for the new building while Kaplický’s design would require four billion. Kaplický’s design, a nine storey building, dubbed “the blob” has divided the public as well as experts and politicians. Critics say its avant-garde design would ruin Prague’s sky-line.