Lawyers are still addressing questions regarding the library; the result will be in February

Prague - The still unresolved legal aspects of a potential new building for the National Library are preventing the working team composed of representatives from the city, state, library, and the proposal's author from reaching a final verdict. "Legal questions are the most important," said team member and mayor Pavel Bém to journalists after today's meeting of the team.
The legal group, which is one of the three expert advisory committees of the team, received additional tasks today. The questions should be answered by February 27, when the team's final meeting is scheduled to take place. After that, its members should state whether it is possible to build the library in Letná according to the design by Jan Kaplický, which won the international competition.
Before the final meeting, the team must also evaluate new visualizations of the building, that is, views of how it would look from various locations in Prague. The visualizations were requested by the expert group of conservationists, they must be produced by Kaplický's studio Future Systems, and Prague is covering the costs. They will be completed by the beginning of February, said NK spokesperson Kateřina Nováková to ČTK.
The National Library team was formed in October. It is seeking a solution to the situation after Prague representatives from ODS opposed the construction. The mayor stated upon the formation of the team that the problem with the library is not political, but rather a conservation and expert issue. The team is to resolve five questions regarding the potential construction - land, zoning plan, compliance with the rules of the international architectural competition, conservationist aspects, and financing for the construction.
The legitimacy of the international architectural competition has been criticized by some architects and the Czech Chamber of Architects. Director of the NK Vlastimil Ježek, on behalf of the competition organizers, insists on his position - the International Union of Architects (UIA) oversaw the correctness of the competition, according to whose rules the competition was announced. He also rejects objections that claim the UIA regulations cannot supersede Czech law.
After their previous meetings, lawyers stated that the library could stand elsewhere in Prague than at the originally selected site in Letná, or that it might be possible to modify the architectural design under certain conditions. The author himself also presented a more precise version of the proposal when he rejected previously presented visualizations in the media.
The necessity for a new building for the National Library has been questioned by around thirty experts and scientists, who wrote an open letter to state and city representatives. According to them, it is necessary to investigate whether the historical Klementinum building would suffice for the library. They propose that the debate about the library return to the very beginning. The mayor stated today that he is not yet familiar with the content of the letter, and therefore does not wish to comment on it.