FROM ’WHERE WE DO STAND ?’ HUNGRIAN ARCHITECT MARCEL BREUER 1902 1981 ONE THE FIRST MODERNIST ÇİSEM ATAK ZÜLAL İMRAN UYAR ARCHITECT MARCELBREUR FURNITURE DESIGNER Marcel Lajos Breuer was born in Hungary in 1902. He was modernist, architect and one of the first furniture designer who used tubular steel for the first time. This success of designs and material usage made him one of the most important architects and designers of 20th century.

In his early age, he started to search for right education of art training and then he went to Academy of Fine Arts Vienne in 1920 which gives the education through theory instead of practice. Due to this reason, he left the school and attended Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar, which he was one o of the first and youngest students. He studied with Johannes Itten preliminary course between 1920-1924.

He was also one of the students of Walter Gropius at Carpentery Workshop. MARCELBREUER

peter behrens in his office in Berlin, around 1913. 2 Photo by waldemar titzenthaler Portrait of Marcel Breuer, photo: Irene Bayer, around 1928. Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin / © unknown. CARPENTRY 1919–1933 (from 1929 Finishing and Completion Workshop)

Carpentry Workshop was used for producing furnitures. Thanks to Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and Josef Albers lectures in Carpentry Workshop in Bauhaus, They produced the prototypes of furnitures that we know today

as classics like tubular steel.

ART

MARCELBREUER –

Bauhaus student in the carpentry of the Bauhaus, photo: Edmund Collein, 1928–1929. Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau / © Ursula Kirsten-

PETER BEHRENS BEHRENS PETER 3 Collein. When Expressionism started to spread in Weimar, it strongly affected the Carpentry workshops and they produced in traditional wood-working methods like the design of Marcel Breuer’s hand-carved African chair.

We see the Expressionism affects on this chair as the composition of

circles , squares and triangles with highly used color. MARCELBREUER

African Chair, design: Marcel Breuer / textile: Gunta Stölzl, 1921. Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin / © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2016 (Stölz) / MATURITY DARMSTAD MATURITY 4 unknown (Breuer). MARCELBREUER

Marcel Breuer, “Lattenstuhl ti 1 a”, 1922. Bauhaus Weimar, Germany. Collection © Vitra Museum Photo Jürgen Hans. Exhibition Bundeskunsthall Bonn The Bauhaus, til 14 August 2015. Lady’s Dressing Table from the Haus am Horn, author: Marcel Breuer, 1923 / partial reconstruction: Gerd 5 Oschmann, 2004. Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau / © Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau. Clubsessel B 3, 2nd version, design: Marcel Breuer, 1926. Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau / © unknown

In Deassau, the relationship between Carpentry Workshops and industry increased with the industrilization in the World, they started to cooparate, work and produce together. This cooperation brought novelty to workshops in the forms and materials of furnitures. Marcel Breuer was introduced the tubular steel as a new material and

he designed the first tubular steel chair in the world in 1925-26. MARCELBREUER

Marcel Breuer, B3 chair, designed 1925, made 1927-28 by Standard Möbel. Chrome-plated steel. Cooper Hewitt 6 MARCELBREUER

7 MARCELBREUER

8 Because of his talent, Walter Gropius charged him to be director of Furniture Workshop until 1928.

During this time he was assigned by Walter Gropius to design the interior of a housing estate built for exhibition in Stuttgart. His second mission was the designing his first house for the Harnischmachers in

Wiesbaden in 1932. MARCELBREUER

9 In 1936 he moved to London because of the Nazis. During this time many refugees moved to Britain from Germany, Russia and that led the start of the Modernism Movement in Britain.

For example;

*Erick Mendolson cooprated with the Russian Refugee Serge Chermayeff. *Walter Gropius arrived one year later and he formed a partnership with Maxwell Fry. *Marcel Breuer also cooperated with Jack Prittchard at the Isokan Company. ISOKAN COMPANY Isokan Company is the large construction company which designs modernist houses and flat and furnitures for them. Isokan Company is one of the earliest proponenets of Modernism in the UK.

During this time he produced his Long Chair with experimenting bent and plywood. MARCELBREUER

10 FRANCIS REGINALD STEVENS YORKE

After 1935 He started to teamed up with the English modernist F.R.S Yorke and they designed many modern houses in Britain.

F.R.S. Yorke was known as English architect and author as a pioneer of modernism in Britain. In that early time of Modernism in Britain, he contacted and

affected from many European architects and designers MARCELBREUER

11 ERICH MENDELSON

Erich Mendelson ( 21 March 1887-15 September 1953) was a Jewish- German Architect. He is one of the refugees that moved to Britain because of the regime od Nazi’s and started the British Modernism in 1920’s.He is best-known for his Expressionist and Functionalist Aprroach to Architecture in his designs for

Department Stores and Cinemas. MARCELBREUER

12 SERGE CHERMAYEFF

Serge Chermayeff was born into rich, Jewish family in Russia. He moved to England his early age and cooperated with Erich Mendelson. They created very important buildings for British Modernist Movement such as; De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, Cohen House, London, and Shrubs Wood (formerly Nimmo House) in

Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire. MARCELBREUER

13 EDWIN MAXWELL FRY

Edwin Maxwell Fry ( 2 August 1899-3 September 1987) was English, modernist architect, painter and author who worked with remarkable modernists Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius Pierre Jeanneret. He worked for British Modernism in

the land of British Empire in West Africa such Ghana, Nigeria. MARCELBREUER

14 MARCEL BREUER inCambridge, aculty F the ‘s work highly affected the stylethe affectedofAmericanModernist‘shighly work . uer e followedis mentor to the joinedAmerica he then the Gropiusworkedforworkedasfurnitureofthe architectdesign, uer uer e e house. In 1937 Gropius became the head of Harvard Graduate School of Design and then then SchoolofDesignofHarvardGropiusand Graduatebecame headthe In 1937 Br Massacchusetss Br Gropiusand House. cooperationofimportantPittsburgHouse Frank One designwhich is inThe of Br 15 'The landscape shows through the building… (But) I don’t think that the two need mix…‘’ Marcel Breuer

Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer took their own paths and Breuer moved to New York to establish his own architectural office.

Binuclear House concept of Marcel Breuer was firstly applied to The Geller House I in 1945. Binuclear House Concept is the form of the house that designed as 2 wings which one of them is used for living ,kitchen and dining area and the other is used as

sleeping area. Those 2 wings connected with entrance topped with butterfly roof. MARCELBREUER

16 MARCEL BREUER garden ( Museum ofModern ( Museum garden s ed many people through Modernism and workModernismpeopleanded throughmany t 52. - trac t 48 48 other 1951 - in1947 kept designing houses and he designed 2 houses in New Canaan, housesin 2 designedhe andhouseskept designing by uer e Br Conneticut demonstrationHe alsoa MoMA’ designedhousefor exhibitionThisArt) 1949. a in architects.of garden MoMA’s in in house Demonstration Breuer 17 MARCEL BREUER Breuer House I is located in Connecticut in located isI House Breuer 18 After those successful residential projects, he moved to larger projects and designed two important institutional buildings. One is UNESCO Headquarter in Paris in 1955 the other is Master Plan and Church at St. John’s Abbey in Minnesota in 1954.

The success in both residential and social projects became a turning point of his career and the start of his widely using material, concrete.

Breuer designed the Washington, D.C. headquarters building for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development which was completed in 1968. This

design of him received many critics MARCELBREUER Whitney Museum of American Art, the Atlanta Public Library is also best-known projects of him.

19 UNESCO Headquarter in Paris in 1955 St. John’s Abbey in Minnesota in 1954. the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Whitney Museum of Atlanta Central Public American Art, New Library, Atlanta, Georgia, York, N.Y., (1964-1966, (1977-1980, with with Hamilton P. Smith). Hamilton P. Smith). © Photo Ezra Stoller - © Architectural Esto. All rights Photography of Atlanta -

reserved. Marcel Breuer Papers, MARCELBREUER American Art archives, Washington, D.C.

20 He mainly critised for being repetitive. He answered those comments like that;

"I can’t design a whole new system every

Monday morning." MARCELBREUER

21 MARCEL BREUER . Pavillion and one of the the ofone and that we can see we see that the can Barcelone corbusier achitects Rohe’s Van Der Der Van Mies use of concrete from Le Le fromofconcrete use - life he was affected from other lifeother fromaffected was he - During his career During his ofhiswideclear influence recall usNewCanaan houses in 22 ‘WHERE DO WE STAND?’

In April, 1935, an article which is the architectural review was written by Marcel Breuer for expantion of modernism in Britain and he emphasized the

subject of Modern architecture. MARCELBREUER

23 ‘WHERE DO WE STAND?’ Marcel Breuer hesitates to use the words; ‘new’, ‘original’, ‘individual’, ‘imaginative’ and ‘revolutionary’ but instead leaving those words he brings new meaning for those words to explain New Movements and New Architecture. He refuses the usage of new and old in previous meanings because he says there is no connection between Modern Movement and new&old. It is more related with what is definite and real which can embody the form of solution and can be available for every various group of people. He says if we would have to use the word ‘new’ we can use it If it offers a solution for the problem that we currently facing and If we would prefer to use the word revolutionary which is striking and enticing to use for those times, it should turn the ideas to practice. Then we can use those words when we explain and make public the Modernism. MARCELBREUER

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