and by 1990 I had finished the design."

Milunic was then contacted by a representative of the Dutch insurance company Nationale Nederlanden, which had bought the bomb site and, according to the Croatian-born architect, wanted to show it could build "something intelligent in such a complex context." It was agreed that Milunic, who at the time was little known, would work together with an internationally recognized architect.

Frank Gehry, who is known for his thought-provoking designs, was enlisted and met with Milunic for the first time in Geneva in 1992. Over the following two years, the two men worked together "long distance" -- Gehry in California and Milunic in Prague -- on the $13 million project.

Milunic was born in Zagreb in 1941. He first went to Prague at 16 tofinish high school and stayed on to study architecture at Charles University. Following his graduation in 1966, he spent three years in Paris and then returned to Prague to work in a state-run architect's office. Today, he has his own studio in the Czech capital, whose architectural splendors are admired by millions of tourists each year.

Milunic is wary of the dangers of "fast construction," which, he told RFE/RL, "either damaged or completely erased" many West European cities in the post-war building boom. Under the communists, Prague was saved such a fate because the only buildings constructed during that period were large apartment houses -- or "panelaks" -- on the city's periphery. "Now we have foreign investors coming with a lot of money who want to build as many