USM Haller Sideboard M with 1 Drop-down Door, Pure orange RAL 2004

The Design

With the USM system one can develop numerous different furniture types, all starting from same three basic elements: steel tubes form the frame, chrome-plated brass balls joint and secure this skeleton before metal shelves or glass elements clad the structure. The spectrum of possibilities ranges from simple shelf construction, including the USM Haller Sideboard M with one drop-down door, over more complex storage solutions and on to mobile cabinets and the USM Haller table collection. The architect Fritz Haller originally developed the USM furniture as an interior design solution for his new USM office pavilion. That was the beginning of the 1960s. The first major contract, furnishings for the Rothschild Bank in Paris came in 1969 and marks the beginning of the series production: and so USM Haller's global success. Characteristic of the USM Haller sideboards are their modular nature, minimalist design, and their classically elegant appearance, the latter caused by the mix of different gloss surfaces and the systems clearly defined structure.

Production

Historical Context

As with all USM office furniture the USM Haller Sideboard M with one drop-down doors originates at the USM production site in Münsingen, Switzerland. There all parts are manufactured and the metal shelves coated with a special powder coating in one of 15 standard USM colours - or for special commissions, any RAL colour. USM Haller attaches great importance to environmental sustainability in the entire production process and to this end recently opened a new powder coating facility in Münsingen, a facility which offers USM energy savings of some 30% compared to their former process. In addition the high quality of the materials used couple to the systems durability and longevity mean that, in principle, a piece of USM furniture need never be replaced. Thus saving resources and optimising the ecological sustainability.

In context of design history USM sideboards belong to the period of functionalism. During this period the famous dictum "form follows function" played an important role: a dictum which highlighted and promoted the functional aspects of the design in architecture and design. The USM Haller furniture satisfies these demands in particular through its adaptable construction principle can be easily adapted according to the respective function. Form literally following function. A further important feature of post war furniture production was the ability to as produce the designs. With system USM Haller the reduction to one principle material, steel, and the limited number of basic elements makes the system ideal for quick, efficient mass production. Consequently the USM Haller modular furniture system has not only developed into an important piece of office furniture, but a genuine furniture design classic.

Manufacturer

The history of USM begins in 1885 with the establishing of a hardware store and locksmith's business in Münsingen near Bern, Switzerland, by Ulrich Schärer. The route to the production of metal furniture begins, in effect, in the 1920s with the manufacturing of window fittings and continues over the post war initiation of general sheet steel fabrication. Today however USM is known alone for the USM Haller furniture system created in 1963 when Ulrich Schärer's grandson Paul Schärer commissioned architect Fritz Haller with the construction of a new office pavilion for the company, and the requisite interior furnishings. In 1969 USM furniture entered series production and in the following years quickly become the renowned office furniture we all know. And one of the genuine classics of furniture design. The shelving system has received numerous awards and in 2001 was included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.