A silver gelatin dry plate glass negative in landscape format.

Country Always

Caring for Country

A Corner of the Empire

The Garden Palace

Sepia photograph of the Technological Museum and a cow in the foreground

The Holding Pen

The Agricultural Hall

Sepia photograph of the Technological College and Museum in Broken Hill

Regional Networks

Across New South Wales

A Museum of Doing

Technological Museum

Black and white photograph of man walking through eucalyptus plantation

Expanding Stories

Evolution of the Castle Hill site from botanical research station to Museum Discovery Centre

Colour photograph of red corrugated iron building from a high vantage point

Transforming the Tramsheds

Powerhouse Stage 1 and the Harwood Building

A Symbol in Time

Sydney Observatory

Powerhouse Museum, Stage 2 exterior from high angle, city skyline in background

Ongoing Transformations

Powerhouse Ultimo

Blurred image from film with museum object number

Applied Arts and Sciences

Defining the terms in the 21st century

Powerhouse Renewal

Artist Xin Liu floating with arm outstretched against a black background. She wears a full-length grey body suit with long sleeves with bare feet and hands.

Sydney Science Festival

Across Sydney10—17 Aug
Shadows cast by the Powerhouse Parramatta exoskeleton on concrete

Exoskeleton

Powerhouse Parramatta

A woman stands on stage in front of a large audience. She has her left hand raised in the air and a microphone in her right hand. The audience are holding their phones up recording the woman.

Blak Powerhouse

Powerhouse x We Are Warriors

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Stories

Applied Arts and Sciences

Defining the terms in the 21st century
Blurred image from film with museum object number

‘The Requirements of a Modern Museum of Applied Science, Art and Industry for Sydney’
A R Penfold, Museum Director (1945–1955)

The meaning of applied art and applied science at the time of the drafting of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences Act 1945 brought forward their use from the industrial revolution describing the singular applications of knowledge and skill in completing specific tasks separately from the application of creativity rather than the contemporary application of science and art to solve a problem.

Applied Arts

The practical application of design and aesthetics to objects of function and everyday use.

Applied Sciences

The practical application of existing scientific knowledge from one or more natural scientific fields to practical problems.

Beyond being the practical use of arts and science, applied art and science are the practice of applying creativity and knowledge to improve our life and work as practical solutions to problems. Historically, the terms have been used interchangeably as well as distinctively from art and science. Specifically, pure science is used to describe the pursuit of new knowledge and applied science is the practical application of science to a specific problem and is synonymous with technology. Fine art is used to describe pure creativity and storytelling and used to separate applied art: the application of design and aesthetics to solve a problem.