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Marcel Breuer

Hungarian-American architect, 1902 to 1981, born in Pécs, Austria-Hungary

Grosse Pointe Central Library, Grosse Pointe Farms, 1953 Photo: Arbitrarily0, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Designer of the Grosse Pointe Central Library, the library that went up in Grosse Pointe Farms in 1953, on the National Register since 2021. Beyond Metro Detroit, Breuer designed Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota (1856) and the Ariston Club in General Pueyrredón Partido, Argentina (1948).

notable works beyond Metro Detroit
11

Marcel Breuer's skyline, here and beyond

The Grosse Pointe Central Library beside 6 of Breuer's notable works elsewhere, drawn paler, oldest at left. None has a height on record, so each is drawn at one standard size in the shape of its kind.

The Grosse Pointe Central Library beside 6 of Breuer's notable works elsewhere, drawn paler, oldest at left. None has a height on record, so each is drawn at one standard size in the shape of its kind.

Grosse Pointe Central Library

1953, Grosse Pointe Farms, height not on record, drawn at one standard size

Still standing, photographed 2012

Open its page
  • Standing
  • Beyond Metro Detroit
  • Tap or point at a building

The story

By Victoria Jackson, Editor in Chief Updated

The Hungarian-American architect Marcel Breuer was born in Pécs, Austria-Hungary in 1902 and died in 1981. Metro Detroit knows Breuer by the Grosse Pointe Central Library, a library in Grosse Pointe Farms, finished in 1953 and listed on the National Register in 2021. Built as the region worked through hard times and then boomed after the war, it has stood for 73 years.

Far from Woodward Avenue, Breuer designed Saint John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota (1856), the Ariston Club in General Pueyrredón Partido, Argentina (1948), and the Seymour Krieger House in Maryland (1958). Breuer's honors include the AIA Gold Medal in 1968. The Grosse Pointe Central Library still stands at 10 Kercheval Ave, and the best way to know Breuer is to stand in front of it.

Marcel Lajos Breuer ( BROY-ur; May 21, 1902, July 1, 1981) was a Hungarian-American modernist architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United States in 1937 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1944.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Marcel Breuer's work in Metro Detroit

Where else Breuer built

11 notable works by Marcel Breuer in 10 places, from 1856 to 1970, as Wikidata lists them.

Where the work stands

Photo credits

All 12 photos on Marcel Breuer's page, each with its author, license and the original.

  1. The Grosse Pointe Public Library Central Branch, 2012 Photo: Arbitrarily0, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  2. Marcel Breuer, issu d'une photographie de groupe, 1957 Photo: Herbert Behrens / Anefo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  3. Saint John's Abbey Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  4. Ariston Club Photo: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
  5. Seymour Krieger House Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ, M.D., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  6. Our Lady of the Annunciation Chapel at Annunciation Priory Photo: Cecilia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  7. Hill Museum & Manuscript Library Photo: Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  8. 945 Madison Avenue Photo: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  9. Robert C. Weaver Federal Building Photo: Photo: Kjetil Ree Architect: Marcel Breuer, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
  10. Hotel Marcel Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  11. Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center Photo: Kevin Rutherford, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
  12. Haras de la Huderie Photo: AD14MLF, CC0 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

The facts on Marcel Breuer come from Historic Detroit, Wikidata, Wikipedia, and Photos; Rebuild Detroit wrote the story above from them, and each photo names its license.