{"id":2567,"date":"2025-09-22T09:30:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T09:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laurenhwhite.com\/?p=2567"},"modified":"2025-10-06T10:57:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T10:57:27","slug":"norwegian-designers-use-reclaimed-materials-to-customise-usm-haller-furniture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laurenhwhite.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/22\/norwegian-designers-use-reclaimed-materials-to-customise-usm-haller-furniture\/","title":{"rendered":"Norwegian designers use reclaimed materials to customise USM Haller furniture"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Climbing ropes, tall grass and a balloon pump were among the things Norwegian designers used to modify USM Haller<\/a>‘s famous modular furniture for an exhibition<\/a> at Designers’ Saturday<\/a> in Oslo.<\/span><\/p>\n

For USM Haller Re-Framed, Martin A Andersen tasked himself and nine other designers with putting their own twist on the Swiss brand<\/a>‘s classic chrome-plated, steel-frame system.<\/p>\n

In keeping with the theme for this year’s Designers’ Saturday<\/a> \u2013 Repurpose \u2013 they were encouraged to use reclaimed<\/a>, self-sourced materials.<\/p>\n

\"Kjetil
Kjetil Smedal used fibreglass and mass timber to transform the USM unit into a record player<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Andersen, who runs USM Haller stockist Studio M3<\/a>, got the idea for the project after acquiring a large number of gigantic filing cabinets from a banking firm in Oslo that was redesigning its head office after a merger.<\/p>\n

“They had filled their whole office with it \u2013 it was one of the biggest USM orders from the 1980s,” he told Dezeen. “It was all really worn, but still useful in some way.”<\/p>\n

Andersen spent three months reworking the filing cabinets into lowboards. Looking for a way to demonstrate the potential of upcycling in combination with local craftsmanship, he contacted nine designers he knows \u2013 some established names, some emerging talents \u2013 and gave them a crash-course in possibilities for adapting the furniture.<\/p>\n

\"Lloyd
Lloyd Winter wanted his piece to look like it had been abandoned for years<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“I chose people that I think have strong ideas in different directions and I knew would create something that reflects their personality,” he explained.<\/p>\n

“We gave it it to them and said, we want you to create something that gives it a new purpose in a way that we’ve not seen before,” he continued. “And they all came out so different \u2013 everybody managed to create something really unique.”<\/p>\n

\"Stian
Stian Korntved Ruud created a bench primed for fidgety sitters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kjetil Smedal<\/a> turned his lowboard into a record player. He took surplus grated fibreglass flooring from a fishing-boat yard to use as panels for the steel USM frames, and combined it with excess glued-laminated timber sourced from a construction site to insert a turntable plinth and vinyl storage.<\/p>\n

Lloyd Winter<\/a> filled his with woodchips and planted it with grass and weeds, to give the impression of the furniture being left out in the wilderness and reclaimed by nature. To enhance the effect, he used rusted perforated USM sheets as panelling.<\/p>\n

\"Stian
Korntved Ruud’s design features a bicycle pump that inflates a balloon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The most surreal contribution came from Stian Korntved Ruud<\/a>, who topped the unit with a stripped and polished birch log to serve as a backrest.<\/p>\n

To make the bench interactive, he\u00a0fitted an aluminium bicycle pump that when operated inflates a balloon, and took flutes from an old accordion that sound like a harmonica when seashell buttons are pressed.<\/p>\n

\"Hunting
Traditional Norwegian barns are invoked by Hunting & Narud’s bench<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Design studio Hunting & Narud<\/a> extended the bench using wooden panels sourced from a century-old barn in Dokka, two hours north of Oslo.<\/p>\n

The wood’s distressed texture was retained at the back, while the front was given a fresh coat of paint that references the traditional red colour of Norwegian barns.<\/p>\n