Founded in 1885 by decree of Emperor Franz Joseph I as the first specialized school of applied arts in the Czech lands, the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM; Vysoká škola uměleckoprůmyslová v Praze) is the Czech Republic's preeminent public higher education institution for artistic design, architecture, fine arts, and theory. Situated on Jan Palach Square in the historic center of Prague, overlooking the Vltava River and Prague Castle, UMPRUM has exerted a profound influence on European design, Modernism, Cubism, Functionalism, and contemporary visual arts. Celebrated alumni and masters include architects Jan Kotěra, Josef Gočár, and Jože Plečnik; graphic innovators and illustrators Jiří Trnka and Zdeněk Miler (creator of The Little Mole); glass sculptors Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová; and photographer Josef Sudek. Today, UMPRUM is organized across six academic departments (Architecture, Design, Applied Arts, Fine Arts, Graphics, and Theory and History of Art) comprising 24 distinct creative master studios (ateliéry). Each studio is led by leading figures in European and international contemporary art and design. With the inauguration of the state-of-the-art Technology Center Mikulandská in 2021, UMPRUM combines traditional European craft techniques—including glassblowing, ceramic kiln-firing, metalwork, bookbinding, and typography—with cutting-edge digital fabrication, robotics, parametric architecture, and sustainable biomaterials. UMPRUM consistently ranks among the top 50–100 art and design universities in the world in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, attracting creative talents globally to its acclaimed Visual Arts Master's and Doctoral degree programs.

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