Library, Letná Plain and Ideal Prague

LIBRARY, LETENSKÁ PLÁŇ AND IDEAL PRAGUE

May 24, 2007, 7:00 PM

Bar Kultibar at Letenská pláň near the restaurant Na Výletné
(see map www.ctyridny.cz)

Thanks to the annual collaboration between KRUH and the international festival "4+4 Days in Motion," on May 24, there will be a series of lectures, presentations, and discussions at Letná titled Library, Letenská pláň and Ideal Prague. First, some of the non-winning competition entries for the new National Library building will be presented. This will be followed by a discussion dedicated not only to the architecture of the new library itself but also to the issues raised by the planned relocation of this institution to a new location. Several pressing questions arise: Can Letná accommodate a new building of such significance and size? What will happen to Klementinum after the library moves – will it continue to be a place used by Prague residents or just a dead attraction for tourists? Is it right that large cultural and educational institutions are moving out of the center of Prague? Discussion on these and other topics will include: Petr Bílek (member of the jury for the NK ČR competition, architect), Jakub Cigler (architect), Karel Hvížďala (independent journalist), Petr Kužvart (environmental lawyer), Osamu Okamura (editor-in-chief of Era 21 magazine, architect), Bohdana Stoklasová (director of Modern Funds and Services of NK ČR) and others. New National Library proposals will be presented by: Jakub Cigler (Cigler Marani Architects), Ondřej Dušek and Martina Kárová, Jiří Knesl and Jakub Kynčl (knesl + kynčl architects), David Kopecký (ksa.), Lennox, Josef Pleskot (AP atelier), Jindřich Smetana and Ondřej Nohejl (VŠUP) and Věra Šatochinová (Z architects). Václav Králíček, head of the urban concept department URHMP, will give a lecture on "On the Urbanism of Letenská Pláň."

current information: www.kruh.info