What allows a single architectural principle to generate many different outcomes? The answer lies in the systems that organize architecture: geometry, proportion, structure, and construction. Together, these can establish a set of rules that can accommodate different programs, contexts, and spatial conditions while maintaining a coherent identity. A structural grid, for example, can organize a variety of uses, just as a single construction detail can be repeated throughout an entire building without producing identical spaces. Can the same way of thinking be translated into furniture design without losing its identity? MTM—Made to Measure, developed by Herzog & de Meuron for UniFor, explores this question. Instead of designing each piece independently, the collection grows from a single structural principle that can be extended, adapted, and repeated across different functions while maintaining its internal coherence.
For Herzog & de Meuron, their projects have been shaped by the relationship between structure, material, and context. Founded in Basel in 1978 by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, the practice has developed projects ranging from small-scale interventions to large cultural institutions and urban developments worldwide. Throughout this work, the firm has resisted applying a fixed architectural language across different projects. Instead, each building emerges from its own set of conditions, whether related to material, structure, program, or context, connected by a shared method of investigation. As Jacques Herzog explains:
We reject the model of the heroic architect with one idea, one strategy for every occasion. We are interested in treating every project, every affair, according to its own situation. […] Every project has its own reality
MTM follows this same principle, but at the scale of furniture. The collection begins with a constructional problem: how can a structural decision allow variations to develop and accommodate different uses? The answer lies in the 12-degree geometry and the three-dimensional timber joint, which form the foundation for tables, benches, sofas, a daybed, coffee tables, and a table tennis table in different lengths. While Herzog & de Meuron’s buildings develop their identity from the specific realities of each project, MTM develops its identity by responding to a different reality.
The collection was presented in the installation Non Places, conceived by Studio Klass, during Milan Design Week 2026 alongside the Giuditta seating family. While Giuditta develops from a specific architectural project—the bistro at Villa Roccabruna, now part of Mandarin Oriental, Lake Como—MTM begins with a more open-ended principle. Although MTM consists of individual furniture pieces, the collection is conceived as a connected system. The same structural matrix can be extended, reduced, and reconfigured depending on the requirements of a space.
One of the most important elements of MTM is not immediately visible: the connection between the four solid timber beams that form the supporting structure. Here, Herzog & de Meuron, together with UniFor, reinterpret the traditional castle joint, a complex woodworking technique based on interlocking components. The castle joint connects four elements at a central crossing through precisely cut notches and extensions. Traditionally, the components support each other through their geometry alone, without relying on additional fasteners. The connection distributes forces in multiple directions, creating a stable structure.
Historically, such joints required extensive knowledge of timber behavior and exceptional precision in fabrication. Small inaccuracies in the dimensions of individual components could compromise the entire connection. This combination of structural intelligence and craftsmanship is what makes the joint significant: the detail is not hidden behind the object; it is part of its identity and the constructive logic from which the wider system develops. For MTM, the traditional principle is adapted through contemporary engineering. Concealed metal rods integrated into the timber beams create a pre-tensioning system that allows larger spans while preserving the clarity of the wooden structure. This reflects a broader principle found throughout Herzog & de Meuron’s work: construction is not seen as a purely technical necessity but as part of the logic that shapes the architectural expression, as seen in recent projects such as Titlis Tower and Hortus.
The material choices reinforce the logic of the system. Solid wood defines the load-bearing frame, making the construction visible and emphasizing the structure’s precision. The tabletops introduce variations through inserts of natural oak, colored glass, travertine, and Lepanto Red stone, allowing different surfaces to coexist within the same framework. A steel version with a polished mirror finish further tests the principle’s adaptability, translating the structure into a different material expression. The upholstered elements introduce cork, selected for its tactile surface and ability to absorb traces of use. The material adds softness to a collection otherwise defined by structural clarity, designed to engage with different environments and evolve over time. As Ascan Mergenthaler, Senior Partner at Herzog & de Meuron, describes:
The strength of MTM lies in its versatility. It is not conceived for a single context, but to be, as the name suggests, truly ‘made to measure’ in its use, dimensions and material quality.
MTM also continues a broader aspect of Herzog & de Meuron’s practice: the design of objects within architectural environments. Throughout their work, the architects have developed furniture, lighting, textiles, and architectural details such as handles and fittings for specific projects. These elements contribute to how spaces are experienced. UniFor’s own history is closely connected to this relationship between architecture and furniture. Since its founding in 1969, the company has collaborated with architects and designers to develop systems tailored to the requirements of workplaces, cultural institutions, education, research, and public environments. While many objects designed by Herzog & de Meuron have been created for specific buildings, MTM extracts the underlying constructive thinking and transforms it into a system that can move between different contexts.
Herzog & de Meuron’s architecture is shaped by the development of project-specific logics that respond to individual conditions while maintaining internal coherence. MTM applies the same way of thinking, but instead of responding to a site, it responds to a design challenge: how to create a furniture system that can adapt to different uses while retaining its identity. In this sense, MTM approaches furniture as architectural thinking in miniature: measured, structural, and open to change.
