In the news

Architect for trade center plan to design Czech Dali museum

Renowned American architect Daniel Libeskind - creator of the master plan for replacing the World Trade Center in New York - has agreed to design a Salvador Dali museum in the Czech capital, an official said Monday.

Libeskind accepted an offer to design the museum to showcase the work of the late Spanish surrealist after seeing its future site in downtown Prague on Sunday, said Miro Smolak, the main organizer of the project.

Libeskind was scheduled to return to Prague to unveil a model of his design on May 11, the 100th anniversary of Dali's birth, Smolak said.

The museum, estimated to cost $15.7-million, is to display 1,000 to 1,500 of Dali's works on loan from collections in Spain, France and Germany. The museum also will include a contemporary art exhibition hall, a restaurant, apartments for visiting artists and a theater, Smolak said.

He estimated construction of the museum could be completed in 2007 if approved by Prague authorities. It would be financed by private investors from the Czech Republic and Spain.

Smolak, who owns a gallery in Prague, said he had the idea of creating a museum there after some 35,000 people visited a Dali exhibition in his gallery over two months about five years ago.

Libeskind's plan for redeveloping the trade center includes the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, which would be the world's tallest building. Libeskind also designed the Jewish Museum in Berlin.

Matt LeBlanc, 36, can busy himself with diapers, now that he has shot the last Friends episode. According to People.com, LeBlanc's wife, Melissa, delivered a baby daughter Feb. 8. Marina, who weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce, is the couple's first child.

Entertainment headlines