<Easter wishes>

The National Library of the Czech Republic expresses in its press release dated November 27, 2015 (http://www.nkp.cz/soubory/ostatni/tz_nk_hsh.pdf) regret over the fact that a lawsuit has arisen, in which it sees a violation of the obligation of competing architects to respect the jury members as the sole arbiters of the competition. However, it forgets a significant fact. “The competition conditions are a binding offer of contract, which becomes valid for all parties at the moment of submission of the competition proposals” – the competitors and the organizer, who transfers part of their activity to the jury. The one who did not understand their role, their obligations, and the impact of their decisions on the competition process was the jury as a whole. Through a series of erroneous actions, it stepped outside the framework of its own competition conditions, or rather, it flagrant disrespect for them. Two representatives of the organizer, along with the head of the UIA competition committee in the jury, thus failed to prevent a unilateral breach of the contract between the competitors and the organizer, which, due to their engagement, cannot be judged by the UIA, let alone by the jury, but only by an independent court. The final ruling of the appellate court, delivered to the parties to the dispute on February 26, 2016, holds the National Library of the Czech Republic fully responsible for illegal actions that caused damage to HXH architekti, s.r.o.

If our demand for adherence to contracts and equal conditions for all is understood by Mr. Director Kroupa, according to the quoted press release, as a persistent petty malice, then we proudly and joyfully embrace it. World-renowned authorities (of architecture) with their mastery, experience, and reason, who are unable to respect their own rules, may be kept by the civilized world for themselves.

If there is a problem with our current society, it is the entire century-long stigma of being something more than what is real – interpreting reality differently, better for all of us. The heroization of our history, democratic Czechoslovakia, the betrayal of allies in Munich, the Soviet Union – a friend for all time, “We are not like them!”, a free market, “We will sweeten it for Europe!”, Lazio – Sparta 0:3. We read each slogan so that it sounds even better or possibly worse than it actually does. We create a modified distorted reality, underpinned by an illusory context that we believe in ourselves and expect the same naivety from those around us. Why? I don’t know. The clash with true reality, based on the contexts and continuity of time, is then a blow below the belt for us, for which we cannot be blamed ourselves, but we blame the surroundings.

The same mistake was made by the former director of the National Library, Ježek, and the same is being done today by his successor, Kroupa. He reads the competition conditions in his own way and diminishes the significance of court rulings for society. For all Ježeks, Kroupas, Jiřičné, Lukeš and others, I present the entire paragraph 19.2 of the competition conditions: In the case of a dispute that is not related to the evaluation or awarding of prizes, the matter will be resolved by arbitration approved by the UIA, without resorting to the legal bodies of the organizing country. Our protest, however, has from the very beginning targeted the evaluation process, during which, at the initiative of Mr. Ježek, the jury changed the conditions in the evaluation of the 1st round. The subject matter jurisdiction of the court is then clear. The court itself states in the ruling: “The appellate court emphasizes that it is not, just like the first-instance court, an arbiter in the area of architectural proposals, that does not belong to the court; however, the court is obliged to ensure compliance with the rules of the competition conditions and to draw responsibility from their violation if necessary.”

The former director of the National Library, Ježek (the current director of the Municipal House in Prague) absolves himself of responsibility in a television interview on April 21, 2015 (http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ct24/regiony/1522060-kaplickeho-knihovna-nemela-vyhrat-soud-zopakoval-odskodneni) and proposes obtaining funds to cover damages from the Future Systems studio by returning the first prize, or possibly from the UIA, which, according to him, should bear responsibility for the errors. The current director Kroupa sees the dispute over 50,000 euros as embarrassing. In the embarrassment of the entire case, the directors agree. Neither of these top managers of state and municipal institutions realize that the greatest embarrassment is the inability to take responsibility for their own actions; in this, they may be unintended representatives of the post-communist intelligentsia, which has not yet had the strength to admit how much communism it still possesses.

A few days ago, the National Library of the Czech Republic paid the amount determined by the court, and so it might seem that the matter is resolved. It is not resolved; I know that. The opportunity to appeal to the Supreme Court, in a case where I am not paying from my own pocket, is hard to resist. We remain prepared and continue to push the cart forward. I would like to wish both directors well during the Easter holidays and share the experience of one immigrant from Britain, who unjustly insulted us after we filed the first protest regarding the course of the competition but ultimately, despite his inner disagreement, realized the respect for the hierarchy of values, acknowledged the correctness of our approach, found the strength, and apologized.

Tomáš Hradečný
HXH architekti, s.r.o.
March 22, 2016