New Designs Bring Local Culture Into Modern Buildings

New Designs Bring Local Culture Into Modern Buildings

NEW YORK, October 2025 – Swiss modular furniture manufacturer USM and interior design studio Loveisenough have unveiled “The Room You Carry,” an immersive exhibition at the USM SoHo showroom that blurs the boundaries between indoors and outdoors, structure and wilderness. Conceived by Loveisenough founder Loren Daye, the installation reimagines the USM Haller system not as furniture but as an architectural medium — a material for building shelter, protection, and connection.

Drawing inspiration from Daye’s experience living off-grid, “The Room You Carry” transforms USM’s signature modular forms into sculptural, tent-like structures topped with canvas roofs and complemented by raw steel, glass, and chrome elements. Custom paravents and casegoods expand USM’s modular language, realized through 3D modeling by Path, a specialist in metal systems innovation.

Hand-carved wooden accessories made from reclaimed timber beams sourced from The Hudson Company provide a tactile counterpoint, alongside personal artifacts from Daye’s travels. Audio and video installations by wildlife photographer Jamie Kennard immerse visitors in the sounds and sights of the wilderness, bridging the sensory divide between nature and the built environment.

“The Room You Carry” explores how design mediates between stability and movement, asking what it means to create ‘home’ in a world defined by change. “How wild can you be inside a hard set of limiting parameters?” Daye reflects.

Jon Thorson, CEO and Brand Experience Director of USM North America, notes that the project “harkens back to USM’s roots in Münsingen, Switzerland — a place where architecture and nature are always in dialogue.”

Open to the public through the end of 2025, the exhibition will evolve over time, mirroring the shifting life of a fictional nomadic inhabitant and inviting visitors to reconsider how they carry their sense of home wherever they go.

Latest from Blog

LEEA Proficiency Testing: A New Assessment Method

LEEA Proficiency Testing: A New Assessment Method

LEEA Introduces Proficiency Testing for Practical Skills The Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) has introduced Proficiency Testing, a new practical assessment route designed to give learners an alternative to traditional multiple-choice testing.
YORbuild Major Works 2 Framework: Overview and Benefits

YORbuild Major Works 2 Framework: Overview and Benefits

McLaren Construction Yorkshire & North East Secures Place on £1.5bn YORbuild Major Works 2 Framework Appointment strengthens McLaren’s public sector presence across Yorkshire, the North East and surrounding regions. McLaren Construction Yorkshire
Autonomous Construction: The Future of Building

Autonomous Construction: The Future of Building

Komatsu and AIM Partner to Accelerate Autonomous Construction with Physical AI Komatsu Ltd., its subsidiary EARTHBRAIN Ltd., and AIM Intelligent Machines have entered into a strategic partnership to advance autonomous construction solutions.
Rivian EV Plant in Georgia: What to Expect

Rivian EV Plant in Georgia: What to Expect

Rivian has released new renderings of its $5 billion electric vehicle plant in Georgia, designed by SOM. Rivian, the Irvine, California-based electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, has shared new renderings of its planned
Catch4climate Tests Pure Oxyfuel Process Explained

Catch4climate Tests Pure Oxyfuel Process Explained

CO₂ Research Project “catch4climate” Officially Inaugurated The “catch4climate” project launches the world’s first research facility for CO₂ capture using the Pure Oxyfuel process. After seven years of planning and development, CI4C GmbH
Applied Technology Education Center: A New Era

Applied Technology Education Center: A New Era

Turner Tops Out Hudson Valley Community College’s Applied Technology Education Center The 130,000-square-foot Applied Technology Education Center will provide advanced learning spaces for students. Turner Construction Company joined Hudson Valley Community College,
Balfour Beatty Pi Labs Investment in Innovation

Balfour Beatty Pi Labs Investment in Innovation

Balfour Beatty has invested £10 million in Pi Labs Fund IV, an early-stage venture capital fund focused on built environment technologies. The investment gives the infrastructure group earlier access to innovative startups