Designed in China

With more than 400 design programs in Chinese schools, Asian design education is undergoing its own revolution

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October 9, 2006 at 4:00 AM UTC

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Pay a visit to the Asian Lifestyle Lab on the tropical expanse of Hong Kong known as Kowloon. Housed within Hong Kong Polytechnic's School of Design, students in the lab are researching how people use rice cookers, what they need from tennis shoes, and how to create eyeglasses that fit well atop the bridge of an Asian nose. The four-year-old program is attracting interest from a growing number of global companies like Philips Design, Yahoo! (YHOO ), Nike (NKE ), and Reebok.

Design is on the rise at HK Polytechnic and other Asian universities as academia rushes to respond to China's dictate that innovation must be a priority. The country is trying to move from "Made in China" to "Designed in China," and many believe that design education is a part of that equation. There are more than 400 programs in China alone right now, with an estimated 10,000 designers graduating every year.