Who?

1. Marcel Breuer Who? When? Where? What? How?

2. Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer (21 May 1902, Pecs Hungary – 1 July 1981 New York City), Architect and furniture designer, was an influential Hungarian-born modernist of Jewish descent. One of the masters of Modernism, Breuer displayed interest in modular construction and simple forms. Who? When? Where? • Known to his friends and associates as Lajkó. • Breuer studied and taught at the Bauhaus in the 1920s. • The Bauhaus curriculum stressed the simultaneous education of its students in elements of visual art, craft and the technology of industrial production. • Breuer was eventually appointed to a teaching position as head of the school's carpentry workshop. • In the 1920s and 1930s, Breuer pioneered the design of tubular steel furniture. • Later in his career he would also turn his attention to the creation of innovative and experimental wooden furniture. What? How?

3. Marcel Breuer Breuer studied and taught at the Bauhaus in the 1920s 1920s and 1930s, Breuer pioneered the design of tubular steel furniture Most widely-recognized of Breuer's early designs was the first bent tubular steel chair, later known as the Wassily Chair, designed in 1925 Who? When? In the 1930s, due to the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, Breuer relocated to London Where? What? 1941 and established his own firm in New York How? The 1953 commission for UNESCO headquarters in Paris was a turning point for Breuer He became known as one of the leading practitioners of Brutalism, with an increasingly curvy, sculptural, personal idiom. 1963 and 1964, Breuer began work on what is perhaps his best-known project, the Whitney Museum of American Art,

4. The Bauhaus school Nonetheless it was founded with the idea of creating a 'total' work of art in which all arts, including architecture would eventually be brought together. The Bauhaus style became one of the most influential currents in Modernist architecture and modern design. The Bauhaus had a profound influence upon subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography. Who? When? One of the most important contributions of the Bauhaus is in the field of modern furniture design. The ubiquitous Cantilever chair and the Wassily Chair designed by Marcel Breuer are two examples. Where? What? How?

5. Marcel Breuer Who? When? Revolutions in design are most often driven by advancements in material and technology.  The famous Wassily Chair by Marcel Breuer is precisely one of these, the first ever chair to feature a bent-steel frame.  While it was first created in 1926, it marked the beginning of a new era in modern furniture with a design that maintains a progressive look even today. The Wassily Chair was first built by Marcel Breuer at the Bauhaus institution in Dessau, Germany.  Breuer found his inspiration for the chair in the bent form of a bicycle handlebar, available for the first time in steel due to a development in technology.  The German steel manufacturer Mannesmann had developed a process to produce seamless steel tubing, the first to allow tubes to be bent without breaking at the seam.  Breuer’s Adler bicycle featured such tubing, which inspired the designer to employ this material in furniture. Where? What? How?

6. Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer is widely regarded as one of the most influential exponents of the modernist cause. His tubular steel chairs, tables and stools, and modular furniture which could be mass-produced revolutionized furniture design. Who? Marcel was the first designer to use tubular steel in furniture design When? He experimented with cutting edge materials, concrete, ply wood and tubular steel Where? What? Influenced many designers and design movements Influential Designer His designs are still copied and manufactured today Among his awards are the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects, and honorary degrees from Harvard and the Technical University of Budapest. Marcel Breuer is the subject of numerous articles and books, although too modest and too busy to have been the author of more than a few.

7. Wassily Chair Clean lines and creative design. This chair lends it's self well to an environment that is simple and streamline, minimalist. Dissatisfied with the previous generation's seating, Bauhaus designer and architect Marcel Breuer created the B5 chair in 1926 as "a dramatic antidote to the overstuffed seating of the Edwardian era. Who? Modernist Design Icon Reproductions are still being made today When? The groundbreaking design was only made possible by a recent advance in German steel manufacturing that allowed for the production of seamless steel tubing. Where? What? Iconic Product Tubing that had a seam could not be bent – it would collapse. But this new, seamless steel opened up an entire new world of design possibilities that Breuer and his colleagues eagerly explored. More than 80 years after its creation, the first chair ever fashioned from bent steel tubing remains as fresh, modern and desirable as when it was first introduced. With its clean lines and elegant construction, The Wassily Chair is a work of functional art truly worthy of its illustrious name functionally and aesthetically sound