Marcel Breuer (1902-1981) was a Hungarian naturalized American architect and designer. He was one of the leading exponents of the modernist movement in 20th century design.
Breuer studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and Technological Institute, where he was influenced by the work of artists such as Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. In 1925, Breuer moved to Weimar to study at the innovative Bauhaus, where he worked with other great designers such as Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
During his time at the Bauhaus, Breuer developed an innovative approach to furniture design, using modern materials such as bent tubular steel and plywood. Among his most famous works in this field are the Wassily chair (1925) and the Cesca chair (1928).
After the closure of the Bauhaus in 1933, Breuer moved to the United States, where he continued to work as an architect and designer. Among his most notable architectural projects are the Whitney House in New Canaan, Connecticut (1949), the Harvard University Department of Architecture (1950), and the UNESCO Research Tower in Paris (1958).
Breuer was also a professor of architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He has received numerous awards and honors during his career, including the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 1968.
His influence on modern architecture and design was enormous and his works are still studied and admired today.
"I am as interested in the smallest detail as the whole structure".