“A hybrid between a workshop for fabrication, a laboratory for discovery and a consulting practice for design…At the core we are designers and makers, sometimes designing, sometimes fabricating, most often doing both.” This “integrated and nimble” structure, as they describe it, enables one process to inform the others, thus providing for the discovery and exploration of new ways to realize projects. At once sophisticated and playful, UM produces everything from furniture to full environments and brand identities.

Lodge Chair. Designed by François Chambard of UM Project.

UM works with individuals, companies, architects and designers in the residential and commercial fields. Within and beyond the built world, their work exists in all shapes and sizes. Sophisticated and elegant; functional and playful: there is something out of the norm with each of UM’s pieces. The Pocket Table was initially designed by François Chambard, UM’s founder, for a new animation studio in New York City, The Station. Fortunately for us, it has become available to the masses. Per its title, The Pocket Table features a pocket drawer with a wooden sliding panel within its large, durable lacquered white surface, fulfilling the need to quickly stash things away prior to the arrival of company or a convenient location to store the remote. It is an otherwise attractive but seemingly standard piece made functional and fun: a reoccurring trend within UM’s work.

Floating Sideboard. Designed by François Chambard of UM Project.

Pocket Table. Designed by François Chambard of UM Project.

The Floating Sideboard “lends itself to all moments of life at home, from everyday celebrations to unique entertaining events,” simply and elegantly. Although this may seem like a common statement from furniture designers in regard to their work, UM Projects means this quite literally. Otherwise just a pretty piece, it is configured to house vases for everyday flowers, an ice bucket for special evenings or entertaining. How often does your furniture so gracefully address these varied needs and desires? Needless to say, it adds a bit of fun to an everyday, ever present piece.

The Lodge Chair, a very recent addition to UM’s portfolio, was designed and manufactured for a music production company in New York and London. “A physical embodiment of their brand and product,” the chair creates an experience in which one can “touch and feel” music. The infamous Apple iPod™, two speakers and a minijack are seamlessly built into the chair while the “side table” incorporates the subwoofer and volume controls. “The chairs lightly resonate with the music, helping create a better connection with the user.” according to its designer, making it less about designing a piece of furniture and more about creating an experience.

Simultaneously developing strong creative concepts and getting their hands dirty; François Chambard started UM in 2004 as a hybrid between artisanship and consultancy. UM is based in Brooklyn and will be exhibiting at BKLYN DESIGNS 2009 May 8-10.