Designer
Marcel Breuer
Marcel Breuer (1902–1981) was born in Pécs, Hungary. A protégé of Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, he was a student and then master carpenter at the Bauhaus in the early 1920s. He later worked in London for Isokon before emigrating to the…
Biography
Background
Marcel Breuer (1902–1981) was born in Pécs, Hungary. A protégé of Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, he was a student and then master carpenter at the Bauhaus in the early 1920s. He later worked in London for Isokon before emigrating to the United States in 1937, where he taught at Harvard's School of Design under Gropius.
Signature Style
His work embodies the Bauhaus aim to reconcile art and industry. At the Bauhaus he revolutionised the modern interior with tubular-steel furniture inspired by bicycle construction and fabricated with plumbers' techniques; his architecture later turned to bold, sculptural concrete.
Notable Works
- Wassily Chair (1925), Cesca chair and Laccio tables
- Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (begun 1963)
- UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (1955) and Saint John's Abbey, Minnesota
Legacy
The first architect to have a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Although he never worked directly for Knoll, he mentored Florence Knoll in Gropius's office in the 1930s and recommended textile director Eszter Haraszty. His furniture collection, sold to Gavina, motivated Knoll to acquire Gavina in 1968.
Products
Wassily Chair
Marcel Breuer's 1925 Bauhaus club chair of tubular steel and leather or canvas slings
Laccio Coffee Table
Marcel Breuer's nesting coffee table: tubular steel loops under a laminate or marble top
Laccio Side Table
Marcel Breuer's small Laccio table: a tubular steel loop frame that nests over the coffee table
B 9 Set Tables
Marcel Breuer's four-piece nesting tables of 1925/26: chrome-plated tubular steel, flat panels.
B 10 Side Table
Marcel Breuer's long, narrow tubular steel side table, a development of the B 9, also with a shelf.
B 22 Shelf
Marcel Breuer's 1928 tubular steel shelving unit with two evenly spaced shelves.
Cesca Stool
Marcel Breuer's Cesca chair frame raised to counter and bar height, with a footrest
Cesca Chair
Marcel Breuer's 1928 cantilevered tubular steel chair, with woven cane or upholstered seat
D4 Folding Armchair
Marcel Breuer's collapsible tubular steel armchair of 1926/27, a Tecta Bauhaus Original.
MB Lounge Chair
Marcel Breuer's tubular steel lounge chair: a continuous frame, oak arms and a sprung seat
S 32 V Cantilever Chair
Marcel Breuer's tubular steel cantilever chair with Vienna cane, produced by Thonet since 1930.
S 285 Tubular Steel Desk
Marcel Breuer's compact 1935 tubular steel desk, with wooden top and storage elements in the frame.
