Bém will meet with Ježek on Thursday, there will be a demonstration in the morning

Prague - Prague Mayor Pavel Bém will meet with the director of the National Library (NK), Vlastimil Ježek, on Thursday to discuss the proposal for a new library building. Ježek informed ČTK of this today. On the same morning, supporters of Kaplický's proposal will come to the Prague City Hall. Before the city council meeting, they wish to present the mayor with the petition sheets that people have been signing in various places across the republic.
    The mayor expresses negative opinions about the location of the library according to Jan Kaplický's proposal in Letná, where the architectural competition was announced. Now, the search for an alternative location or the announcement of a new competition is being considered. However, according to Ježek, both options are controversial.
    The Thursday morning event is organized by the drama section of the National Theatre, which supports the petition by architects and artists advocating for Kaplický's design. ČTK was informed today by petition organizer Jiří Černický and spokesperson for the ND drama section Tomáš Staněk.
    The petition was created last week in response to events surrounding the library proposal. Six months after the announcement of the results of the international architectural competition, part of the Prague city representatives from ODS, including Mayor Pavel Bém, are expressing negative views about the proposal. According to the petition authors, the project is an extraordinary architectural masterpiece that, due to its concept, technical and aesthetic quality, fits into the space selected for this building.
    "The artistic leadership of the ND drama section has decided to support the protests against the city council regarding Kaplický's proposal," Staněk told ČTK. "As citizens, we are affected by the behavior of the representatives of Prague, and we join the Petition in support of the construction of a new National Library building by architect Jan Kaplický in Letná Plain," states the declaration by the drama section signed by its head Michal Dočekal and dramaturges.
    According to Černický, the theater professionals wanted to join the petition. Their support is welcomed by the petition committee, which consists of architects, artists, and other experts. However, we do not consider the theater professionals to be experts on architecture and if they joined our petition, we could not then present it as an expert opinion, Černický said. Therefore, they are working with the drama section on Thursday’s gathering, and the petition remains available in its original form.
    The petition committee includes, along with Černický, architect David Vávra, director of the Center for Contemporary Art Ludvík Hlaváček, architectural historian Zdeněk Lukeš, designers Jan Němeček and Michal Froněk (Olgoj chorchoj), rector of the Fine Arts School (VŠUP) Pavel Liška, vice-rector of the Academy of Fine Arts (AVU) Jiří Ševčík, and gallery owner Alberto Di Stefano.
    "We believe that Prague must not miss the chance to acquire such an exceptional building from one of the most important contemporary architects, who is also a Czech," say the authors of the petition.
    At the end of last week, a petition against the construction of the library according to Kaplický's design in Letná was also created. It is organized by the Prague theatre Ta Fantastika, whose management does not hide its inclination towards ODS. They are offering the petition to those who, like them, want the library, but not in Letná.