New party backs the 'Blob'

More than two years after Jan Kaplický's project for a new National Library won an international architecture contest and, six months after his death, the future of the so-called "Blob" remains both divisive and in question.

At the same time, Kaplický's projects forge ahead elsewhere in the country, and one provincial governor is lobbying for the National Library project to be built outside of Prague.

In short, the Kaplický controversy lives on.

Supporters of the library continue to organize themselves in new ways, the latest of which is a new single-issue political party, calling itself simply the Blob party.  

Two friends in advertising, Martin Charvát and Richard Hunt, founded the party and are collecting signatures to register for a run in 2010 local elections. Insisting it is not a joke, the pair points to past experience as proof this party could make Kaplický's library project a reality.

"[Politicians] can't just cancel projects simply because they don't personally like them," Hunt said.

Hunt, originally from England but living in Prague for 16 years, was once involved in a similar organization in South-East London. In 1990, the Valley Borough Council met about a new stadium for a local soccer club. According to Hunt, the council had already decided to cancel the project, and this meeting was a public relations formality.

"It was a show, a communist show. Here, we were looking at Czechoslovakia, Romania and everywhere they were moving toward democracy, [while] we were moving backward," Hunt said.

In response, locals launched a political party, the Valley, and weeks later received 12 percent of the vote, convincing the borough council to build the stadium.

Hunt says that, while attending the demonstration supporting the National Library on Old Town Square in February, those old memories were rekindled.

"I was standing, watching and listening, and it really started to remind me of how similar some aspects of these situations were," Hunt said.  

That demonstration was organized by the Facebook-based initiative Democracy Builds (Demokracie staví), named after one of Kaplický's favorite Frank Lloyd Wright quotes. Former Mayor Jan Kasl's foundation Support the Library (Pro knihovnu) is another group pushing for the library.

Meanwhile, Kaplický's projects elsewhere in the Czech Republic are moving forward, perhaps further bolstering the Blob party's case.

České Budějovice recently resolved land issues for the Concert and Congress Center (Rejnok) project. Work is expected to begin next year, with the hall possibly opening for business in 2013. Though the South-Bohemian Society of Friends of Music (Jihočeská společnost přatel hudby) is still in the midst of securing a significant amount of financing for the project, officials say the project is on track. Nearby, in Hluboká nad Vltavou, there are plans for a villa called Heron (Volavka) designed by Kaplický that will be at the heart of planned upscale neighborhood.

The Blob party's platform remains a work in progress, but its aim is clear: to build Kaplický's library at Letná.

"Our goal is simple," Charvát says.

While President Václav Klaus and Prague Mayor Pavel Bém are known opponents of the library project, the Blob party is hardly the only political party openly advocating Kaplický's project. The Social Democrats (ČSSD), for example, say they want to see the Blob built. Central Bohemian Governor David Rath has floated the idea that it be a part of Central Bohemia University.

Neither Hunt nor Charvát sees other parties as competition when it comes to their hallmark issue. Hunt says people don't trust the big political parties to actually keep their pre-election promises, and argues people are ready for a single-issue party, especially on a local level.  

If the results of the European Parliament elections are any indicator - with quirky parties like the Pirate Party in Sweden enjoying success - he may have a point.

"People are tired of the big parties that try to solve everything and are removed from society," Charvát said.

Radka Zítková can be reached at
rzitkova@praguepost.com