Design in 2006: a Year of Innovation and Utility

Design in 2006 a Year of Innovation and Utility
It wasn't a bad way to start the year. In January, design made its debut on the agenda of the World Economic Forum in Davos - and that was only one sign of its growing importance in 2006.

At a time when advances in technology are enabling designers to be more creative than ever, the rest of us are increasingly receptive to innovation.

Think of the speed with which MySpace and YouTube have caught on.

The developed world is embracing design as a killer weapon in the battle against low cost competition from China, which, like other developing countries, is building new design schools to fight back in the future.

The value of design soared at auction, with a 1986 Marc Newson Lockheed chaise longue setting a record for the work of a living designer at Sotheby's in June by selling for a smidgeon less than $1 million.

Some designers used their skills to help other people.

Architects experimented with new types of emergency housing for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The designers working on the $100-laptop project for the One Laptop per Child nonprofit foundation took a leap forward in their bid to improve the educational prospects of millions of disadvantaged children when the first production models of the X0-1 rolled out of a Shanghai factory last month.