SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Building on Switzerland's excellent reputation in the field of design, swissnex San Francisco hosts the Design Preis Schweiz (Swiss Design Award) exhibit on its premiere stop in North America from November 20 to December 19, 2008. Featuring groundbreaking works by talented Swiss designers, the exhibit showcases select pieces from the prestigious biannual awards. An opening night reception kicks off the exhibit followed by a special "Design Detective" event the following week.

Held every two years, Design Preis Schweiz is a product of the Design Center Langenthal and one of the most renowned events in the Swiss design community. While the touring exhibition borne out of the award competition has visited all major European cities known for design, San Francisco and swissnex will be the first to host the exhibit on North American soil.

The opening event on November 20, 2008 features a high-caliber design talk, moderated by IDEO co-founder Bill Moggridge and featuring prominent Swiss figures in design including fuseproject founder Yves Behar and Pierre Keller, director of the University of Art and Design Lausanne (ECAL) in Switzerland. The exhibit is on view in the swissnex gallery from November 20 - December 19, 2008.

On November 25th the following week, a crucial exploration of design thought, based on the recently published volume "Design Detective" (Lars Mueller Publishers) also takes place at swissnex San Francisco as an added treat to go along with the exhibition. Author and designer Frederic Dedellay looks at how his encounters with curious objects and situations worldwide -- spontaneous, "homemade" design solutions, accidental sculpture, and the like -- inform his own design work.