Studio of Machine and Tool Shaping, Gottwaldov

Czechoslovakia’s success at Expo 58 in Brussels undoubtedly played a role in the establishment of the Machine and Tool Shaping Studio in Gottwaldov (now Zlín) in 1959 as an external workshop of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. The studio was headed by Zdeněk Kovář (1917–2004), one of the most important Czech industrial designers of the twentieth century. As the name suggests, the studio focused on industrial design, and even during the project’s conceptual planning, great emphasis was placed on cooperation with various industrial companies and on connecting students with actual practice. For a long time, this was practically the only opportunity for specialized industrial design training in Czechoslovakia, and it was from here that the first generation of Slovak industrial designers graduated. The Machine and Tool Shaping Studio developed and expanded over the years, becoming an independent department in the mid-1960s and transforming into a design department shortly after the 1989 Velvet Revolution.