The NAI was a private organisation with a government brief, which was to manage the collection of archives that document the history of Dutch architecture.

These were: Jo Coenen, Rem Koolhaas, Benthem Crouwel Architekten, Wim Quist, Luigi Snozzi and Ralph Erskine.

Koolhaas's design was the favourite among the specialist press and was also favoured by Riek Bakker, the director of Rotterdam's Department of Urban Development.

However, the NAI awarded Jo Coenen the commission, the decisive factors being the blending of the design into the surroundings and the references to the history of architecture.

At the site of the original entrance is now the DoeDek, a hands-on area where visitors can experiment with Lego, large blocks and cut-outs.

The Rotterdam Stichting Bevordering van Volkskracht (a foundation for the enhancement of popular health, welfare and culture in the city) bought the museum house in 1977.

Private individuals started collecting architectural archives as early as the end of the nineteenth century.

The libraries of the Academie van Bouwkunst Amsterdam (Amsterdam Academy of Architecture), the Bond van Nederlandse Architecten BNA (the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects) and Stichting Wonen, a consumer organisation for information on sustainable living, were added to the NDB's collection.

It also contains over 500 archives and collections of Dutch architects, organisations and educational institutes in the field of architecture and urban development, and comprises drawings, sketches, models, documentation, correspondence and photos.

From 5 February until 24 April 2000, an exhibition called The Function of the Form – Van den Broek & Bakema Architecture and Urban Design exhibited the work of architects Jaap Bakema and Jo van den Broek, who were in practice together.

The exhibition which included original drawings and models, photographs, film footage, and audio tapes, and was the largest survey of their work to date.

[1] Other exhibitions included: Polders (2005), China Contemporary (2006), Wijdeveld: plan the impossible (2006), From Cuypers to Coenen (2007), Le Corbusier (2007), Shape our country (2009), Disputed City (2010), and Architecture of Consequence (2011).

[citation needed] To promote its innovation agenda ‘Architecture of Consequence’, the NAI organises platform activities such as lectures and debates both in the Netherlands and abroad.

A ‘matchmaking’ programme brings together expertise on these subjects so as to find approaches to spatial tasks such as environmental issues or housing shortages.

[citation needed] On 2 September 2006, the NAI opened an annexe in Maastricht, in the Wiebengahal, which adjoins the Bonnefanten Museum, in the Céramique district.

The company specialises in publishing books on architecture, urban development, spatial planning, visual arts, photography and design.

State Secretary Halbe Zijlstra designated the NAI as one of the organisations that were going to form the new institute for the Creative Industry on 1 January 2013.