Although best known today for the USM furniture system, Fritz Haller always considered himself principally as an architect. Born in Solothurn, Switzerland in 1924, Fritz Haller trained as first a draughtsman and subsequently an architect. A great influence on his approach to architecture came from year he spent in Rotterdam where he worked with Willem van Tijen and Berend Bakema, two of the most important representatives of post war modernism. Fritz Haller largely planned larger scale buildings such as schools, office buildings and industrial facilities - all characterised by a functionalism accent and a tendency to systematisation. His most famous work, the USM Haller furniture, was created in 1963. And almost by accident. Having been commissioned in 1961 to build a new office pavilion for USM, Fritz Haller then also created the office furniture. Fritz Haller died in October 2012 in Solothurn.