Department of Industrial Artistic Design, Vilnius, 1961

One of the most significant developments in the history of Lithuanian design was the establishment of a design specialization at the State Art Institute of the Lithuanian SSR (now the Vilnius Academy of Arts) in 1961. In 1962, the Department of Industrial Artistic Design was inaugurated, headed for several decades by the jeweller and designer Feliksas Daukantas (1915–95), a pioneer of Lithuanian design education.
His programme emphasized a holistic systematic approach to solving design problems, the pursuit of collaborations with the industry, and the interaction between art, craft, and technology. The department was distinguished by its renowned introductory course inspired by the Bauhaus method, its links with the Ulm School of Design, its theatre traditions, and its contractual agreements with manufacturers. Its graduates went on to a wide range of professional activities and employment, including at the local branch of VNIITE, a calculating machine factory, and a plastic products factory (all three in Vilnius), as well as an experimental package design bureau and an experimental sports aviation factory (both in Prienai).
Daukantas took a keen interest in international exchange, reading foreign literature, visiting art schools abroad, and inviting guest professors, the most famous being Tomas Maldonado in 1969.