Breuer

‘The most complete monograph on the pioneering modernist.' – Fast Company      

This acclaimed book is the most comprehensive published on architect and designer Marcel Breuer (1902-1981), looking in detail at all the houses, furniture, and public buildings he designed in Europe and the United States – from his beginning at the Bauhaus through his collaboration with Walter Gropius, and the establishment of his own practice in the USA. Written by acclaimed architect and writer Robert McCarter, the first edition of this book was described as a ‘serious study’ (Financial Times) that would help in ‘realigning Breuer’s position in the canon of modern masters’ (TLS).

The complete monograph on the last of the first generation of Modernist architects, Breuer is the only book that examines both his design as well as his architecture, with detailed descriptions of his work – including commercial, residential, furniture, and unrealized projects, including all of his iconic furniture (such as the Wassily and Cesca chairs) and buildings (including the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris and the Whitney Museum in New York). Back in print due to popular demand, this new edition has a beautiful new cover featuring the global headquarters of Sotheby’s in New York.

Review

'Breuer's tough, brutalist designs were sculptural and expressive, and their ambition and scale has come back into fashion. This is a serious study.' – Financial Times

'It is truly a must-own for all architectural enthusiasts.' – Interview Online

'In a beautiful new tome from Phaidon, architect Robert McCarter gives us the most complete monograph of the pioneering modernist.' – Fast Company's Co.Design

'An impressive and weighty new monograph by Robert McCarter... Should realign Breuer's position in the canon of modern masters... Covers 100 buildings and 24 furniture designs, and is a joy to spend time over, with its beautiful array of photographs, and McCarter's exhaustive - but never exhausting - text on the designs... It is time to rightfully rank Breuer alongside Mies, Wright and Le Corbusier, and this publication should aid that cause.' – The Irish Times

'This impressive and weighty new monograph by Robert McCarter should go some way to realigning Breuer's position in the canon of modern masters.' – TLS (Times Literary Supplement)

'Meaty, well-illustrated... [Breuer] knew how to wield the expressive powers of modern materials.' – The Observer, The New Review

'...An essential work on the multitalented designer.' – CityLab

About the Author

Robert McCarter is a practicing architect and has been Ruth and Norman Moore Professor of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis since 2007. He taught previously at the University of Florida, where he was Director of the School of Architecture from 1991–2001, and Columbia University, among other schools.

He has written for numerous international publications, and his books include: Grafton Architects (2018); Marcel BreuerSteven Holl (2015); Alvar Aalto (2014); Carlo Scarpa (2013); Understanding Architecture, co-authored with Juhani Pallasmaa (2012); and Louis I Kahn (2005), all by Phaidon Press. He has also published The Work of MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects: Economy as Ethic (2017); The Space Within: Interior Experience as the Origin of Architecture (2016); and Aldo van Eyck (2015), among other books.