Category: Photography

Originally founded in 1885 as a locksmith business, the design company as we know it today was born in 1961 to remake the modular furniture that Paul Schärer had commissioned for the office. Almost 50 years, on the occasion of the release of the “USM Haller E” – a shelf with integrated light – we visited Dr Thomas Dienes, Product Development Director at USM. At the headquarters of the company in Münsingen, Switzerland, we delved deep into the brand’s history, got to know the intricacies of its design process, and philosophized over the meaning of timelessness in design.

Originally founded in 1885 as a hardware and locksmith business in Münsingen, Switzerland, USM began to evolve into the brand it is today in 1961, with an architect’s sketch for modular furniture. Can you walk us through some more of the key moments in USM’s history?

“The main focus was indeed the processing of metal, which has remained the case until today”Yes, USM emerged from a locksmith business, so the main focus was indeed the processing of metal, which has remained the case until today. Eventually USM became known for its expertise in window fittings – in the past we had around 50% of the window fitting market share in Switzerland. If you look at an old Bernese house today, you can still see a USM emblem on the fittings – though the form is different. In terms of the history of our space, it was planned by Paul Schärer, the third generation in USM history, the predecessor of Alexander Schärer and Judith Stuber-Schärer, the two current owners of USM. Paul Schärer was very driven when it came to business and management on the one hand, and on the other he was also an engineer who drew a lot of inspiration from art. He had a lot to do with the Solothurn school and artists from that region. He commissioned an architect to develop a factory building that was as modular and as flexible as possible.

This led him to Fritz Haller, who designed the modular building. By the way, these types of buildings were later industrialized, and still exists in various parts of Switzerland. But there’s another moment I find particularly exciting. The second original USM building was the pavilion, originally intended for the administration office, where we are right now. The design principle is similar: The building is modular and flexible, and then of course it needed to be furnished. In the ‘60s of course it was all about heavy wood furniture, though that didn’t quite fit here. Economic considerations came into play too – there wasn’t an excessive amount of money to spend on furnishings. So the question was posed, “Could we go about this in the same way we designed the building? To produce furniture in our own workshop from materials we are familiar with, in a cost efficient way?” And so a furniture system built to meet our own needs was born.

The key entrepreneurial idea – I think – was the first moment someone from outside the buildings came to visit and saw the furniture and thought they’d like to have it in their space too. It was the banker Rothschild from Paris who asked Paul Schärer where he could buy it. Schärer answered, “It doesn’t exist, it was developed for us and by us.” From there on the question was how to start working in a completely different area – the furniture industry – to produce this for a potential client without any idea as to how to calculate materials, measurements and tools. For me, it seems like an extreme business step in economic terms. A fascinating one, to say the least.

And was that then the first big order?

It was, but a lot of perseverance was required afterwards. It wasn’t furniture that fit the Zeitgeist. Of course, the production structure – for window fittings – hadn’t been set up for this industry. It took many years, and much perseverance, until we could say, “Let’s start developing further,” – until the market came halfway towards us.

USM furniture has been designed and manufactured in Münsingen, Switzerland, since the beginning. How important is this location for USM? What does your Swiss heritage stand for?

“We must be open, but without bending, without forgetting our Philosophy”At this point I’d like to mention the word “persistence”. A character trait that I, as a German, understood to be part of the Swiss mentality of this region. There’s an extreme necessity to stick to a basic principle for a long time. Only when all the parts are matching together over such a long period of time, it’s a system as a whole. It’s things like these that build persistence over time. And that’s how I’ve experienced the Swiss mentality. And maybe a similar piece of furniture created somewhere else wouldn’t have remained on the market for so long.

But how does this relate to innovation? Earlier we talked about new possibilities within the existing “building block”. At this point we must walk the tightrope. We must be open, but without bending, without forgetting our philosophy. With the “USM Haller E”, we have tried to build something which makes a furniture system no longer simply a space, but something that can also turn into something for totally different use like a writing board, a sitting corner or even something we do not yet know today.

You briefly touched on the design philosophy of USM. How would you describe it exactly?

Yes, there are a few terms that define us – modularity is the one I just mentioned, but modularity can also result in a very banal cellar shelf. So another aspect needs to come into play. We naturally appreciate the beauty of the details, of individual parts. We have an affinity for design, and we always ensure this balances out the functionality. But if one element is only beautiful, then it’s not beautiful anymore. So what USM ultimately does is bring these two elements – functionality and design – together.

Modular furniture has long since become a bit of a buzzword in the design scene; many have attempted to emulate your concept. How important is modularity for USM and to what extent does it represent the USM brand?

The last part of the question is relatively easy to answer: It’s our core philosophy. But I’ll start with the first part, because I have to question whether modularity really still counts as a trend. We’re always thinking “in which direction is the future of the furniture industry going?” and “what will people require of their space in future?” Today we don’t know what the future will bring. I want to contrast this with the individual or customized creations or design pieces that I also find very exciting. But these are usually created for a particular situation and not with the future in mind. When it comes to furniture, modularity allows for changes that we can’t yet imagine. And that’s precisely why I believe USM, though it’s now been in the market for a long time, is a modern system. Over the past 50 years, because it has remained modular, it’s very well equipped for the future.

Before, you mentioned “USM Haller E”, the new furniture piece from USM Haller. Could you briefly explain how the design came to be?

This was a case where the desire for the product came from the outside. So there was the impetus to develop further, in this case it was OLED technology. So you look around, see what’s happening in other industries and areas. We suddenly discovered a light form which creates a beautiful surface light. So we asked ourselves how we could integrate a functionality like this into our classics. So the question is “how do you integrate electrical power supply into furniture?” It very quickly became clear that there was a need for this, but no-one seemed to have a solution. The discussion took so long – seven years. I’m very lucky – and this is the beauty of USM, because we have very long-term projects – that I am very free in the research stage. I can very freely consider the question “Is there any chance that we can solve this issue on a technical level?” So I’d describe the result [of “USM Haller E”] as nothing more than a few simple, banal pieces that we have lying here on this half table. With the add-ons to the USM Haller building kit system, we have completely new worlds of solutions we can create over and over again. It’s still USM Haller, after all.

What was the biggest challenge in the design process?

If you compartmentalize it, then I’d say the USM ball. When it came to electricity, we had very specific requirements. We did not want to work with cables. We wanted to preserve the basic principles of our furniture construction system: So you have modules you can put together to create your world. If there’s a cable involved, you’re bound by the length of the cable, for example. We also wanted to keep the assembly process the same. We had to separate the connector, when electricity flows through the structure, like the plus and minus poles of a battery. And the USM ball is the most critical element in the design.

Timelessness is at the core of your brand — an investment in a USM piece is an investment for life. In your opinion, what are the features or qualities that make a design timeless?

“Timeless” is of course a very lofty claim, and whether we’ll ever reach it, I can’t say. We have achieved it over a period of 52 years, depending on how you view such a length of time. So we must be realistic in our contemplation of time. I think the features we mentioned earlier are to do with timelessness. The philosophy that we first have to create furniture that is functional. And modularity – that’s not something you can build from one day to the next: You have to develop it over a long period of time. Yes, of course quality is inherent in our designs. It’s a principle that’s very closely linked with us.

The elements forming MYKILOS’ vision are equally shared by audio brand Urbanears. Known for combining minimal design with cutting-edge tech, the brand has just released its latest product: the Connected Speakers, a high-tech design that deserves pride of place in any room it graces with its top notch sound system. To mark the release of the Connected Speakers – which come in two practical sizes and in six stylish colors, from neutrals to brights – we collaborated with Urbanears to visit the design duo behind MYKILOS. Meeting Philipp Schöpfer in the designers’ showroom and Daniel Klapsing in his Berlin-Mitte apartment, we got the lowdown on the fascinating story behind the label’s origin, the things that keep it ticking and the elements of essentialism that the Urbanears and MYKILOS have in common.

MYKILOS is the design label connected to the studio 45 KILO, which creates interior concepts and kitchens both for private homes and for offices such as Spree Studios and Agency V. How did 45 KILO – the interior studio – lead to the founding of the design brand, MYKILOS?
“We were too impatient so we thought, “f**k it – let’s just do it ourselves!””

Daniel [Klapsing] and I started to work on projects together at the Bauhaus-University and realized we enjoy furniture design, and that we worked well together in that domain. So we just started creating our own furniture – often for friends or for ourselves. We lived together at that time and whenever we needed something new for our apartment, we’d just make it. For example, we weren’t so keen on the tables at the school, so we created our own version of them. That was the first step. Then we wanted to start developing designs for other brands, so we started visiting fairs and exhibitions and realized it’s really hard to get access to producers, and takes a long time. We were too impatient so we thought, “f**k it – let’s just do it ourselves!” and set up a group show of the best designers from the Bauhaus school, the first time in Milan 2009.

That exhibition was called “My Bauhaus Is Better Than Yours” which could have been a citation of Walter Gropius, just arguing with Johannes Itten about which concept of the school is the right one. But actually it was a pun on a hard-core techno piece by ABS called “My House is Your House“

The exhibition became a great success, partly of it’s provoking title I guess. After two years of curating exhibitions across Europe and Middle East we founded a label under the same name, together with Daniel Burchard and Manuel Goller, fellow graphic designers from Weimar. We developed the brand for a year before we started realizing that unfortunately we had different perspectives on how to further develop the company. We decided to focus on our own designs rather than being a platform for many designers, so we handed the company over to Daniel and Manuel and we continued working under the name of our design studio: 45 Kilo. A year later Daniel and I started MYKILOS and once again started our own production. The idea was to have our own label, to be able to decide exactly how each product was produced with the fewest compromises. Both in terms of production, clients and communication.

The connection today between 45 KILO and MYKILOS is that 45 KILO does the design and the concepts – it’s the service provider. Everything that has to do with serial production and distribution goes under the label MYKILOS. When an interior project is realised through 45 KILO, then of course we incorporate products from MYKILOS. We want to focus more and more on kitchens with MYKILOS. They’ve have always been a strong interest of ours. Daniel and I used to cook together a lot and from that we found ourselves involved in everything to do with kitchens. The kitchen has become a very important room in an apartment – especially with open-plan living: it’s not only for cooking and eating in, but also for living and potentially working. MYKILOS’ products and kitchens will all be about cooking and eating: enjoying life basically.

We’re here at your showroom on Leipziger Straße. Minimal and industrial, with a generous amount of pink. What’s the concept behind the fit-out?

Our showroom “MK Studio” is also a pop-up space that we use for events, shootings or other occasions. We have the luxury of having a lot of space and we want to make the most of it – to present our projects and invite our clients here, but also work from here with openness and transparency. We’ve divided it up a bit: on the right side there’s the MK Studio, our showroom and shop presenting the MYKILOS products. And on the other side we showcase our system kitchens, the MK1, 2 and 3. Upstairs and in the back we have the office. The color choice of pink began last year with this curtain, as we wanted to divide the room without building a solid wall, so we started working with this curtain blind that you find in a lot of offices and doctor’s rooms – and usually seen as boring. We managed to find a company who also produces this blind in pink, and as soon as we saw that, we said “sure, why not?!” From this curtain the pink theme evolved, also to the walls. It’s become our corporate identity color, together with black, white and light grey, but that can also change. For a while we had this shade of yellow which you can still find across some of our product ranges, but we’ve also always worked with other colors, it’s a seasonal thing.

How would you describe your personal aesthetic, and to what extent does that reflect the design philosophy of MYKILOS?

Clean, reduced and straightforward. On one hand, that’s my personal style and on the other, I think it fits really well with the business. We want to leave out everything that’s unnecessary, and reduce things to their essence. That’s about it, I think [laughs].

And how about your personal interior design approach to your home? How does it similar to and different from Daniel’s, given that you used to live together?

I think we have pretty similar tastes – which makes sense with our common job, of course – otherwise the whole enterprise would be on shaky legs [laughs], so I would describe it as “same same but family”. I have a young daughter, and at my place there are a lot of warm tones and a lot of different styles mixed in together, which is due to my daily life, and the daily routines of my girlfriend and daughter, which I really like. It’s clean and reduced, but still warm due to the family element and the Altbauwohnung. And at Daniel’s I’d say it’s pretty much the same minus the child [laughs] so more pared back and a lot cleaner due to his Plattenbau also. But the same principle applies for both of us: Reducing the unnecessary so as to concentrate on what counts. Without ending up in a white cube, of course.

And how would you describe the working relationship between you two?
“When it comes to the core business, we always come back together.”

It’s developed a lot since the beginning – we’ve been working together for 10 years, and of course the structure of our company has evolved over that time, so we’ve come to divide up roles. I take care of the production and the distribution as well as the product side of things, and he’s mainly responsible for the interior and kitchen projects. But we make lots of decisions together. We used to do everything together, because it was just the two of us taking care of everything as a duo – we were like a married couple, and people thought we were, which I can understand [smiles] – but of course it gets to the point where you need to split things up. We’re always exchanging ideas and when for example we develop a new project, that’s something we work on together. When it comes to the core business, we always come back together.

Your product range includes tables, lights, office and kitchen accessories. Could you share a story behind a favourite piece?

One of my favorite products – which is one that represents our story pretty well, or at least has accompanied us on much of our journey, is our Chair 3. It was one of our very first designs – we started to create it in 2007, and we presented it at a design fair in Berlin that year in a very different version from what it is now. We worked on this chair for about eight years, going through many different steps, and took a long time to develop it to the point that it was ready for production. That was because we were doing everything ourselves – we weren’t working with a producer to guide the process and tell us where we needed to make compromises.

“The look and feel of objects is very important to our work.”

And in 2016 we finally found the right producer for this chair, Mattiazzi, who make it in an amazing quality. The design was originally modelled off Jasper Morrison „ply chair” – a classic, which we discovered as students and wanted to build ourselves, so we created our own version. We found that pretty easy to understand, in terms of both form and materials – but as we were building it we realised we could improve on it. Vitra produced the chair for several years, but always had to put a sticker under it saying “This is not a chair”, because it didn’t fulfill its purpose as a chair to sit on – it was more a statement, a sculpture. And so we wanted to create a version that was functional – that looked good but was also ergonomic. Through a process of many, many steps we came to the V and A shapes in the surfaces. Looking at the chair it appears rather uncomfortable and edgy– but when you sit down there’s this “Aha!” moment as you realise it’s actually comfortable. I’m proud of the outcome.

What are the key steps in your design process when adding a new product to your collection?

A big part of our process revolves around developing existing products further. We start with an existing product that we love but also see the potential to evolve further, to update, given the possibilities in terms of materials, finish and production processes that may not have existed when the product was first launched. This redesign process requires solid knowledge – of the product itself, and the priorities fuelling the designer or architect and producer when they first created it. So we get deep into that, interpret it and use the knowledge to push the product further.

Another example of how we work is when there’s a specific niche or requirement that needs to be fulfilled. Maybe a client will say, “we need this 8-person table with sound insulation, with inbuilt electronics. Then we’ll take our “Easy” base and adapt it – that’s how the “Big Easy” table came to be – so we also redesign and develop our own existing products too. But we haven’t stopped working for other design brands. When a good company likes to work with us, we’re happy to work like a regular design studio, just developing a design – not a product.

When it comes to the senses, sight and touch are of course high on the agenda in what you do. But how about sound? In which ways do you incorporate listening into your work process?

Daniel and I got to know each other through music. Daniel used to DJ at parties in Weimar and I started to do the same at that time. I just asked Daniel if he wanted to DJ together without already knowing him. He was  open-minded and said “why not”. So we did and it was really fun –and we started playing at parties together more often. The other passion is cooking together. And then came design. So these three elements have been the building blocks of our friendship. Music has always been an important topic for us – it’s what built our base. I’m still very involved with music – I still spin and collect records. At the same time, I’m also very sensitive when it comes to sounds, smells and textures. The look and feel of objects is very important to our work. Though our designs are often very stripped back and minimal, they’re not emotionally cold or hard – we want them to feel good whilst embracing function and aesthetics.

I have to admit these speakers fit so perfectly with our range that I could just place them in one of our kitchens and they’d work with the overall concept. That means I would’t have to build it in, install it or hide it away. Whenever we fit out a kitchen for a client, or even work on our own showroom, we of course incorporate products from other labels. And products like the Urbanears speaker bring us further, because electronics aren’t something we do. This box works quite well for us – it’s a pure form, this cube, relatively hard and clean, but at the same time the fabric it’s covered in gives it a kind of softness. It’s not just cold and hard with stark edges, although that’s the kind of shape it is – but instead it’s warm.

When it comes to the finishing touches and electronic accessories for your interior concepts, what do you look for? For example, the new Urbanears connected speakers were designed super minimally with no cables and in a monotone color palette. How could you imagine them fitting in to one of your interiors?

I have to admit these speakers fit so perfectly with our range that I could just place them in one of our kitchens and they’d work with the overall concept. That means I would’t have to build it in, install it or hide it away. Whenever we fit out a kitchen for a client, or even work on our own showroom, we of course incorporate products from other labels. And products like the Urbanears speaker bring us further, because electronics aren’t something we do. This box works super well for us – it’s a pure form, this cube, relatively hard and clean, but at the same time the fabric it’s covered in gives it a kind of softness. It’s not just cold and hard with stark edges, although that’s the kind of shape it is – but instead it’s warm.

Out of over 23,000 photos submitted from 180 countries, 10 winners were selected across the award’s professional categories. In addition, renowned British photographer Martin Parr, revered for his humor-filled studies of the idiosyncrasies of British culture, was honored with an “Outstanding Contribution to Photography” accolade. In honor of the winning submission, we we present a duo of works from of the 10 professional winners. Each project is underpinned by sweat, tears, struggles and triumphs – resulting in deeply personal journeys full of heart and inspiration. Get to know the incredible images – and the stories that led to their creation.

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ARCHITECTURE, 1ST PLACE
Dongni, China

Inspired by the concept of the “mobile city”, Chinese photographer Dongni explored themes of space and urbanism, using a drone to capture her mesmerising cityspace images, which she enhanced and abstracted into a conceptual series. “In a spatial context, when we […] ignore the rules and celebrate the deconstruction and reconstruction of the urban space, the space itself gives us more control and adds more joy to the city,” the photographer said of the impulse behind her work.

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CONCEPTUAL, 1ST PLACE
Sabine Cattaneo, Switzerland

For her Master’s thesis, undertaken in France, Sabine Cattaneo tackled the sensitive topic of assisted suicide, which is illegal there. Employing the language of “near documentary” photography, her project combines imagery of some of the last places inhabited by those she followed with text and news reports. “By choosing to show places in relation to the topic of assisted dying instead of people, the images seek to do without the forced empathy imposed by any such physical depiction,” states Cattaneo. “Instead, the viewer is confronted with an abstract notion of “choice” – or lack thereof – and is invited to form their own thoughts on these situations.”

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PORTRAITURE, 1ST PLACE
George Meyer, Russian Federation

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CONTEMPORARY ISSUES, 1ST PLACE
Tasneem Alsultan, Saudi Arabia

Saudi-born, US-based Alsultan, whose work includes wedding photography, shot the touching series “Saudi Tales of Love”, which shares the stories of Saudi Arabian women from all walks of life, brought together not only by the constrictions framing their common reality, but by their fighting spirit to challenge the boundaries. Following her subjects for days at a time, Alsultan asked each woman how she wanted to be portrayed in the final shot. The result is an emotional, uplifting portrait series that defies expectation. “I wanted to answer questions shared by many, such as ‘do we need marriage to signify that we have love?’ and ‘do you need a husband to have a meaningful life?’ the photographer explained.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS & NEWS, 1ST PLACE
Alessio Romenzi, Italy

This confronting war documentary series saw Romenzi spend time in Sirte, self-proclaimed capital of ISIS in Libya, capturing the brutality of daily life in a warzone there. “It took seven months of fighting, five hundred American airstrikes, seven hundred soldiers dead and more than three thousand injured in the Libyan army ranks, to declare the city finally free,” explains Romenzi. The images he captured portray a heart-wrenching reality that cuts through the myriad images of war spread through the news media on a daily basis.

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DAILY LIFE, 1ST PLACE
Sandra Hoyn, Germany

“The Longings of Others” saw this German photographer temporarily move into the largest and oldest brothels in Bangladesh, the Kandapara, which is almost a mini city in and of itself. “The brothel district is surrounded by a two-metre wall, and in the narrow streets within, there are food stalls, tea shops and street vendors,” Hoyn explains. “More than 700 sex workers live and work here with their children and their madams.” Terrible conditions for the women, many of whom are underage, compound the grim nature of daily life in the brothel. For Hoyn, the hardest element of this project was staying in her role as photographer whilst watching the women, many of whom she had befriended, suffering. The intensity of the expressions in their eyes attests to that conflicting challenge.

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LANDSCAPE, 1ST PLACE
Frederik Buyckx, Belgium

After having spent a substantial amount of time in the heat of South America, Belgian photographer Frederik Buyckx felt the pull towards climates harsh and cold. Seeking to capture a sense of isolated living and the struggle humans face in the harshest of climates, he traveled around Central Asia, the Balkans and Scandinavia to create his series “Whiteout”, which also won the overall Sony World Photographer of the Year award. “There is a peculiar transformation of nature when winter comes, when snow and ice start to dominate the landscape and when humans and animals have to deal with the extreme weather,” he explains. “The series investigates this struggle against disappearance. The struggle against a whiteout.”

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NATURAL WORLD, 1ST PLACE
William Burrard-Lucas, United Kingdom

For his series “African Wildlife at Night”, Burrard-Lucas traveled to Liuwa Plain National Park, a remote area in the west of Zambia, wanting to capture nocturnal animals in their natural habitat. The result is an incredible series of vistas depicting spine-tingling close-ups of wild animals set against the backdrop of the starriest of skies. The photographer explained, “The techniques I employed were only made possible by the low-light ability of modern-day digital cameras and by using remote-control devices such as my “BeetleCam” – a remote-control buggy for my camera.”

This striking black-and-white portrait series, which transcends the borders between fashion, portraiture and conceptual photography, not only questions the ideal of the “perfect woman”, but addresses the duality of dark and light, metaphorically speaking, within us all. Inspired by his experience as a graphic designer, Meyer presents arresting graphic compositions and shapes. “Within the space of the picture, the light becomes at and the dark becomes deeper, highlighting all conventions and details,” observes a text about the works.

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SPORT, 1ST PLACE
Yuan Peng, China

This series explores the dedication, effort and expectations of two twin sisters training to become gymnasts at a sports school in Jining, Shandong province, China. Having captured the full spectrum of emotion as the twins go through their daily training, Peng explains, “Liu Bingqing and Liu Yujie … have liked gymnastics since their childhood. They have studied, trained and grown up here.” The series’ title, “The Twins’ Gymnastic Dream”, is an apt reflection of the hope, sweat and tears poured into the subjects’ pursuit.

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STILL LIFE, 1ST PLACE
Henry Agudelo, Columbia

This arresting series draws attention to the issue of missing persons in Columbia, a topic that has been close to the photographer’s heart for several decades now. “In Colombia there are more than 130,000 people who are listed as ‘disappeared’. Because of the war and violence in this country, many bodies that are not identified go to medical universities to be studied pending a family member recognising and claiming them,” Agudelo explains. His still life series is a study of some of the collected and preserved pieces of skin, marked with tattoos: A symbol for the faded hope of that loved will be able to identify those they have lost.