about ume
UMÉ is about design and objects, and their relationship within a space.
It’s about catching fleeting moments, something as simple as the late afternoon light hitting water in a glass. A transitional moment that’s so powerful that an everyday object suddenly takes on a completely different form and you can see the full potential of its beauty.
“I started to look for these small moments then created rituals around them that are seasonal, and based on the time of day and the angle of the sunlight. It’s a way to learn about your home and domestic life that I find really rewarding.”
- Mei-Lan Tan, Designer|Architect, UMÉ Founder
PEOPLE
Mei-Lan studied architecture at Cornell University where she completed several built installations. Continuing her focus on the smaller scale and working details, she worked under Caroline O’Donnell for the winning MoMa PS1 proposal “Party Wall,” which was built and completed in 2013. Later that year, she moved to Basel, Switzerland to work for Herzog & de Meuron on several high profile projects, including the National Library of Jerusalem, an intimate apartment complex in Miami, and a large rehabilitative hospital project in Denmark.
Dedicated to finding more meaningful interactions between objects and their contexts, Mei-Lan moved back to the US to focus on materiality and sculptural form, working for years primarily in stoneware on hand-built ceramic vessels. Her determination to understand various tools and craftsmanship led her to co-found UMÉ, where she is influenced by an emphasis on objects and their relationship within space. Mei-Lan is currently a Lecturer at UC Berkeley in the department of Architecture and was recently awarded Forbes 30 under 30.
APPROACH
an attitude towards craft
UMÉ is a design practice where traditional craft meets contemporary taste with delightful yet purposeful objects tailored for everyday living.
A spirit of curiosity, love of fine details, and a willingness to throw out convention, while honoring tradition has led to partnerships with designers and artisans in California, Paris, Kyoto, Bali, Vietnam and beyond drawing upon a range of diverse skills, perspectives, and traditions while blurring the boundaries between art, craft, and experience.
UMÉ is invested in keeping these traditions alive—while updating their forms and bringing these timeless techniques into the now to achieve authentic, distinctive designs.
beauty, function, technique
A design ethos for materiality, craft, and technique leading to design is the approach rather than the prevailing norm of design informing craft and technique.
UMÉ believes an object’s shape and use is derived from its making and is deeply committed to allowing an object’s function and the process behind it, to inspire its form, yielding elegant solutions for daily life. It is this dialogue of the hand, the shape it produces, and an object’s ensuing use that creates this subtle tension that we understand as beauty.
global vs. local
UMÉ is at once global and local with a focus on designing objects for the everyday, to engage and incite curiosity, to be less prescriptive and more personal, and to connect people, their cultures and their histories.
The studio focuses on high quality design pieces that are developed thoughtfully and periodically released throughout the year.