(“Text as taken from the website”)
Practice Ideology
The fundamental principle of the Academy is the individual approach to each student. The aim is to support talent and develop creative skills, while emphasising original independent thinking about society and nurturing a collective responsibility for our environment. Roughly 500 students across 24 studios are currently enrolled at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague. The Academy opens its doors to the public twice a year with an exhibition of student work entitled “Artsemestr”. Every year, the Academy organises more than 15 exhibition events, half of which take place abroad. According to the QS World University Rankings, UMPRUM is the only school from a post-communist country ranked among the most prestigious art schools in Europe.
History: Inspired by the ideas of Gottfried Semper, UMPRUM was founded in 1885. Over the years, the Academy has developed in response to the political and social climate. It was established in the era of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, thrived during the period of the Czechoslovak Republic from 1918 to 1938, and managed to survive the conditions imposed on it by the communist totalitarian regime, during which time the school became isolated from events in the outside world.
