Breuer, Marcel (Lajos)

Marcel Breuer, 1969

(credit: Tamas Breuer)

(born May 21, 1902, Pécs, Hung.—died July 1, 1981, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Hungarian-U.S. architect and furniture designer. He studied and then taught at the Bauhaus (1920–28), where in 1925 he invented the famous tubular steel chair. He moved to Cambridge, Mass., in 1937 to teach at Harvard University and practice with Walter Gropius. Their synthesis of Bauhaus internationalism with New England regional wood-frame building greatly influenced domestic architecture throughout the U.S. He was one of the most influential exponents of the International Style. His major architectural commissions include UNESCO's Paris headquarters (1953–58) and the Whitney Museum of American Art (1966).

Breuer, Marcel (Lajos) (1902–81) architect and designer; born in Pécs, Hungary. He directed the furniture workshop at the Bauhaus (1924–28); his early furniture designs, such as the Wassily (1925) and Cesca chairs (1928), became modern classics. He joined Walter Gropius at Harvard and in partnership in 1937. His architectural designs, mostly for houses and public buildings, date mainly from his independent practice (established 1947) and include the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (1963–66).