Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.USM\u2019s modular furniture has been a mainstay of the hip interior for a while \u2014 but you might not have noticed it. Slick and practical rather than ostentatious, the chrome-framed storage system has been a classic since the 1960s, by pure accident. It was originally conceived by architect Fritz Haller for the factory and offices he designed for the Swiss company \u2014 then a manufacturer of window fittings.\u00a0The \u201cvery futuristic\u201d factory drew visitors, says USM UK\u2019s chief executive Mirko M\u00fcller, but the lasting takeaway was the utilitarian, adaptable, ball-jointed furniture. When the board of the Rothschild bank visited they asked USM to fit out the entirety of their new Paris branch. \u201cThis was when USM decided, OK, let\u2019s do it. Let\u2019s start producing the furniture,\u201d says M\u00fcller. It has been much the same ever since, he says: \u201cNot reacting to every trend and new direction is one of the secrets, I believe, why USM has been so successful.\u201dWhich makes its collaboration with interior designers Buchanan Studio all the more impactful. The 11 pieces, in a range of colours, playfully subvert USM\u2019s precise engineering: edges are stacked to create a decorative double bullnose; different coloured panels are combined in a chequerboard; a pink cut-out peeks from a white side table; the Kiss table \u2014 far from USM\u2019s usual efficient use of space \u2014 is in an X shape.\u00a0\u00a0Since 2018, London-based Buchanan Studio has carved a niche creating colourful, theatrical interiors \u2014 including a labyrinthine home and gallery space for artists Philip and Charlotte Colbert, and a dining greenhouse filled with oversized narcissus for Raymond Blanc\u2019s Le Manoir aux Quat\u2019Saisons \u2014 as well as its own line of furniture marked by bold patterns and modern, chunky silhouettes. Husband and wife co-founders Angus and Charlotte Buchanan have been longtime fans of USM. Angus first discovered the range while doing work experience with Mario Testino as a teenager. The fashion photographer had \u201ca full black USM office\u201d, Angus says, \u201cand I just remember thinking it was the coolest thing I\u2019ve ever seen: it was just so slick.\u201dUSM furniture features in many of their interior design projects. Clients, says Charlotte, might not immediately recognise the name USM until they see the pieces, \u201cso they sort of don\u2019t know they know it\u201d. Their aim when beginning the collaboration, says Angus, was to take \u201cthis system which is so practical, utilitarian, perfectly conceived and engineered\u201d and make it \u201ca bit more playful\u201d.\u00a0It was Buchanan Studio that approached USM, but it comes at a time when the brand is experimenting more and more \u2014 one of the most Instagrammed highlights from April\u2019s Milan Design Week was its bathroom installation for Pharrell Williams\u2019 skincare brand Humanrace. This would not have been possible 20 years ago; USM was not open for these kind of designs\u201cI was very open to it,\u201d says M\u00fcller, who has worked with them on supplying furniture for their projects. \u201cWe need this fresh and new perspective from people outside the company.\u201d\u201cThis is a piece of USM that we\u2019ve had in our lives forever,\u201d says Charlotte, pointing to a sideboard stacked with magazines in their London studio. Their own take is \u201ca kind of beefed-up version\u201d.\u201cIt feels quite exciting, this one, because it\u2019s definitely not something USM would do. They\u2019re so practical and sensible,\u201d adds Angus.\u00a0But USM wasn\u2019t hard to persuade when it came to the Credenza. The custom pink \u2014 a signature of Buchanan Studio \u2014 was a little tougher. USM very rarely creates new colours, although an olive green introduced a couple of years ago has become a bestseller in the UK. \u201cWe did it in the end,\u201d says M\u00fcller \u201cand I think that makes it very exciting.\u201d\u00a0\u201cThis would not have been possible 20 years ago; USM was not open for these kind of designs.\u201d\u00a0With each piece available in a range of colours, including three shades of marble tops for some pieces and upholstered cushions for a bench and stool (something USM had never done before), narrowing it down was almost the hardest part of the project. \u201cWe had to draw the line,\u201d says Angus.\u00a0There were other difficulties, such as having to \u201ccheat\u201d USM\u2019s programming. Both sides liken the furniture to Lego, but in reality there are a number of presets: the factory software couldn\u2019t process some designs. \u201cSo we had to fake pieces, pretending we were putting feet here, and this, that and the other, because it was a \u2018computer says no\u2019 situation,\u201d says Angus.\u00a0But the hiccups haven\u2019t put them off, says Angus. Would they do it again? \u201cWe can start tomorrow.\u201dPrices \u00a3379-\u00a321,794; buchanan.studioFind out about our latest stories first \u2014 follow @ft_houseandhome on Instagram<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.USM\u2019s modular furniture has been a mainstay of the hip interior for a while \u2014 but you might not have noticed it. Slick and practical rather<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":297553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-297552","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297552"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":297554,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297552\/revisions\/297554"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}