The National Technical Museum’s most recent collection department was established in 1994 as the first centre in the Czech Republic mapping the history and present state of the design of technical fields. It first focused on the activities of industrial designers in the fields observed in the existing specialised departments of the National Technical Museum (transportation, machinery, household technology, acoustics, etc.). Other areas important for the history and present-day state of industrial design in the Czech lands (medical technology, sports equipment, plastic utility objects, etc.) were gradually added.

The industrial design collection is wholly unique in our country and represents one of few such conceived collections in Central Europe. The collection objects are or will be represented in some NTM exhibits (namely the exhibit on architecture and construction and in the prepared household technology exhibit), as well as in exhibition of Modern and Contemporary Art at the National Gallery in Prague.

The Industrial Design Department has also compiled from the start two-dimensional accompanying documentation: original designs and numerous photo-documentation of original, unpreserved design models of, for instance, prototypes and products. These materials often document the process of creating the product from the initial considerations and sketches to the final solution, which is important for following designer work in its entirety and for understanding industrial design as independent, complex disciplines with a relation to the technical fields.
This exceptional collection also includes the legacy of leading Czech industrial designers and features the complete legacy of designer and teacher Zdeněk Kovář.

The Industrial Design Department currently follows mainly the work of living designers of all generations and of tertiary-school designer studios, preserving representative samples from them. The collection also features very carefully chosen student work in accordance with the collection’s area of focus.

In addition to the preparation of exhibits and public events, the department’s important work also consists of participation in judging committees for designer competitions (the National Prize for student design) and collaboration in promoting Czech industrial design with expert institutions and media.

The industrial design collection presently holds over 1,600 inventory numbers divided into 26 subgroups. The most important and most numerous are:

Acoustic	Transportation	Toys	Tools

Everyday Use Objects	Mechanical Engineering	Lights	Household  Technology