USM Haller Sideboard 50, Customisable

Design

In context of a 1963 commission from the Swiss ironmongery and metalsmith concern U. Schärer Söhne the architect Fritz Haller developed the USM Haller storage system. Initially only intended for the firms own offices, Haller's system quickly developed to a contemporary design classic, helped along the way by commissions such as the furnishing of the offices of the Rothschild Bank in Paris. From its very beginnings the USM system represented a modern working culture with free and responsive room organisation. USM furniture is based on a modular principle based around three components: steel tubes form a basic skeleton, the individual tubes connected via brass connector balls. The skeleton is then completed by the addition of glass or steel panels and doors. Through this simple system USM furniture allows for a high degree of flexibility in the planning of furniture, a flexibility that includes the possibility to reconfigure an existing system should the need arise. So, for example, can through the addition of two elements an existing sideboard L (four elements) be converted to a sideboard XL (six elements). On the same basis, an existing USM Haller unit can be extended in all directions. In addition one has a choice of doors, a choice that one can always change as the situation demands.

USM Haller produce exclusively at the company's base in Münsingen, Switzerland. Components for German bound USM orders are shipped from Münsingen to the company's facility at Bühl near Baden-Baden where the final construction takes place. In exceptional cases, for example with particularly heavy or large units, final construction takes place at the customers premises. All USM Haller furniture is available in 15 standard colours; however, should customers have special wishes these can also be meet. In 2014 USM Haller opened a new powder coating facility in Münsingen that sets new environmental standards in terms of both energy and material usage. Such environmental considerations are not only a central component of the USM company philosophy but are also inherent in the USM modular system. The ability to rebuild and reconfigure existing systems combined wit the high quality of materials and production making USM Haller system an expectationally durable product with an almost limitless lifetime.

Designer

The USM furniture system was developed in the 1960s by Fritz Haller. Born in Solothurn, Switzerland, on October 23rd 1924 trained first as a carpenter before studying architecture. In addition to houses a focal point of Fritz Haller's architectural work was schools, office and production facilities. In this context Fritz Haller received in 1961 the commission from Paul Schärer to plan and build a new production facility and administration office for U. Schärer in Münsingen. In addition Fritz Haller was asked to create furnishings for the office pavilion. The result was the USM Haller System. In later years Fritz Haller held professorships in Karlsruhe and Stuttgart. Fritz Haller died in Solothurn on October 15th 2012.

Historical Context

Fritz Haller's USM Haller unit is a product of its time, and the dominant creative philosophy of its time: functionalism. Originating from the end of the 19th century, "Form follows Function" is almost literally expressed in the USM furniture system. With his design Fritz Haller focussed on creating as clear and minimalistic a form as possible, a form that has helped the USM Haller system retain a timelessness. A timeless which when coupled to products modular construction principle adds up toa product family that is as relevant and practical today as it was in 1963 and will be in 2063