Marcel Breuer: Designer, Architect and Modernist

It is often the case with people of extraordinary gifts that their talent cannot be contained within one field. These people have so much talent, so much to offer that they cannot help but excel in more than one endeavor and to contribute to several areas. Such is the case with Bauhaus alum, Hungarian-born modernist, architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer. Many are familiar with the Marcel Breuer chair and his other contributions to furniture design but Breuer also contributed greatly to the world of architecture with his modernist structures. His tubular steel furniture marked a historic change in furniture design at the time but so did his architectural structures. Here are some of the buildings he designed.

  • Alan I W Frank House (Pittsburgh, 1940)
  • Hagerty House (Cohasset, Massachusetts, 1938)
  • Breuer House I (New Canaan, Connecticut, 1948)
  • UNESCO Headquarters (Paris, 1951)
  • Church at St. John’s Abbey (Collegeville, Minnesota, 1961)
  • IBM Laboratory (La Gaude, France, 1962)
  • Ariston Hotel (Mar del Plata, Argentina, 1948)
  • Whitney Museum of American Art (New York, 1966)
  • Atlanta Central Library (Atlanta, 1980)
  • Flaine Ski Resort (Haute-Savoie, France, 1969)
  • Villa Harnischmacher II

All of this is to demonstrate the boundless talent of this icon of architecture and design. We carry many of the tables, shelves and even carts he designed. Much of the furniture on our site was created by designers whose talents were seemingly endless and could not be constricted to one field. This is particularly the case with designers who emerged from the Bauhaus movement.


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