Marcel Breuer retrospective at the Museum of Design Atlanta and the Central Library by Catherine Fox

Art & Design

Marcel Breuer retrospective at the Museum of Design Atlanta and the Central Library

By Catherine Fox | Nov 4, 2009

By CATHERINE FOX

Marcel Breuer was in his 20s, working at the Bauhaus in Germany, when he created the chairs still admired as icons of modern design. He was a venerated American architect by the time Atlanta's Central Library, his last commission, opened downtown in 1980.

"Marcel Breuer: Design and Architecture," a retrospective hosted by the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System and the Museum of Design Atlanta, examines those bookends and the fruitful career in between.

It vivifies his achievements through vintage furniture, architectural models and plentiful photographs. But just as importantly, and in contrast to the High Museum of Art's brochure-like John Portman exhibition, it analyzes them. The curators point out Breuer's creative principles and propensities, offering insights that help the visitor understand Breuer's work, both individually and collectively. (Photo: Breuer in the B3 Wassily chair, ca. 1926.)

Organized by Germany's Vitra Design Museum, the traveling exhibition is divided between the two hosts. Although this arrangement makes for a somewhat choppy experience, it does enable viewers to actually experience a Breuer building in three dimensions.

To see the show somewhat chronologically, start at MODA, which houses the tubular-steel furniture that is arguably his most enduring legacy. The text says Breuer "invented'' the type. The idea, however, was in the air. He was clearly influenced by the 1918 Reitveld Chair (on view at the High Museum), in which Dutchman Gerrit Reitveld reduced the chair to component planes, emphasizing space as opposed to mass. And several other designers were experimenting with tubular steel at about the same time.

Perhaps the point is that Breuer's elegant Wassily and Cesca chairs became the "It" versions: classic embodiments of modernist principles. They are still in production, and their DNA is evident in generations of ensuing designs. (At left: an inexpensive Cesca knock-off.)

Breuer carried the values the chairs represent — the form-follows-function ethos, lightness, cantilevers — into the houses that were the first chapter of his architectural practice, which started in earnest after he emigrated to America in 1937.

MODA's upstairs gallery, which represents this work through four projects, presents architectural motifs that will recur throughout his practice, such as the "lying rectangle," whose long skinny proportions are a leitmotif evident in cabinetry, ribbon windows and even the proportions of structures.

By the 1950s, his career had expanded to larger commissions in the wide array of building types surveyed on the main floor of the Atlanta Central Library. Among the most interesting are Breuer's Midwestern ecclesiastical projects, which are persuasive expressions of his ability to manipulate concrete to sculptural and textural effect.

The Atlanta library (above) — like its antecedent, his 1966 Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (below) — is "Egyptian," to use Breuer's term, in its solid volumetric form. Breuer reduces the mass by strategic nips and tucks and punctures it with carefully placed and variously shaped windows. The muscular concrete staircase off the lobby typifies his sculptural approach.

Yet it's a composition best appreciated (and best-looking) as an object and from a bit of a distance, a view that one has to make special effort to find on the narrow streets surrounding the building. At ground level, the Atlanta library can seem spartan and forbidding, which puts it at odds with current values of street-friendliness and openness.

Hence, the lack of fondness for the building, which Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts exploited to help make a case to build a new library. Breuer admirers worry that the building might be razed. According to library system director John Szabo, the recession and lack of support have all but killed the prospect of a new building.

The issue of submitting to the vagaries of fashion remains, however. Remembering the many bulldozed buildings that we now mourn should help gird against the vicissitudes of taste.

So should exhibitions like this. Even if this show doesn't change one's emotional response to the library, it can lead viewers to appreciate its value through a better understanding of the building, its architect and their place in history.

P.S. If you are in New York between Nov. 8 and Jan. 25, you can see Breuer in the context of his peers at the Museum of Modern Art, which is organizing "Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity."

12 Comments

BPJ

1

Ideally the Breuer building would have been built on the parking lot visible in the foreground of the photo (it’s now the Equitable Building parking deck), and the older Carnegie Library preserved. But I agree the current building is one of Atlanta’s few modernist treasures.
Here’s an idea to consider: if a new central library ever does get built (fronting on Centennial Olympic Park, perhaps?), then might the current library building be suitable for rehab as a museum? After all, it was built to contain works made of paper, to protect them from direct sunlight, etc. It might be worthwhile to have some architects and engineers look it over to see whether this is feasible, and would be a better option than new construction elsewhere.
But what museum, you ask? keeping in mind that a new library is a decade or more down the road, one possibility is a Downtown expansion for the High, especially if in the future its collecting activity begins to keep up with that of museums in other similar-sized cities. Another possibility would be as a home for one of the world’s great photography collections, which happens to belong to a part-time Atlantan.
There would be three advantages to this: we keep a great collection here in Atlanta, we preserve an important building, and we give people another reason to go Downtown.

04 Nov
Cathy

2

I’m glad you mentioned the Carnegie Library. I was thinking about the demonstrations to save the old Carnegie by preservationists, who now are worrying about the building that replaced it. Ironic.
I think it’s more likely that the Breuer will be renovated in the near term and a new building is many years off.

04 Nov
Terry

3

I walk by the Breuer twice a week. I must say the exterior looks better in person, far better I think, than it looks in any pictures. I prefer glimpses of the building. Walking north on Broad is, to me, the best view, probably because I can’t see all the crazy stuff at once.
“…the lack of fondness for the building.” is about as gentle as it’s been said. The irony: “The issue of submitting to the vagaries of fashion remains, however. Remembering the many bulldozed buildings that we now mourn.” The vagary of fashion is probably the Breuer.
I hope that “current values of street-friendliness and openness” have have won out over “forbidding.”
As a taxpayer I wouldn’t vote a dime to replace the Breuer. Let’s keep it.

04 Nov
James R. Oxendine

4

Great story line here. The question now becomes how to use the historical/ artistic significance of the structure to create a viable cultural asset in Atlanta’s still struggling downtown?
The museum idea has a great deal of merit and possibility.Perhaps the MODA; SCAD and The Portman cos. could collaborate to transform the structure into Atlanta’s Tate Modern.Of course this approach would require that the local governing bodies become partners in both the re -programing and the search for and financing of a new site.
A long term project to be sure but now is the time to plan in order to capitalize on the opportunity when conditions are more favorable.

04 Nov
DOCOMOMO Georgia

5

Thanks for the post and the observations about the Library, Catherine.
As the merits and fate of the building have been discussed over the past year, it occurs to us that many negative comments about the Central Library are related to bad management decisions made during the past decade or so. These unfortunate decisions are now associated with the style and form of the building.
Examples – why has all activity on the main street level been removed; why was the restaurant closed, leaving the basement largely abandoned, leading some to describe the basement as a ‘cave’; why isn’t the auditorium fully utilized; why aren’t significant items in the library’s collections made more accessible? The list goes on. If such concerns were to be addressed, public opinion would be improved.
Regardless, I think this type of discussion is very important. Perhaps the combination of economic and political forces have granted us more time to debate the fate of Breuer’s last building.

04 Nov
Cathy Fox

6

Agreed.
Don’t you think that urban and social issues have exacerbated the situation you describe?
The entrance is barren to discourage the homeless from settling in.
Downtown restaurants have a tough time anywhere, especially a place tucked away in a basement. Lack of free parking is a deterrent. (I know; People can take MARTA, but most won’t, especially at night.)
Knotty problem.
Cathy
Cathy

04 Nov
BPJ

7

Whenever I went to the restaurant (Delectables, which was excellent), it was doing great business. I was told at the time it closed that the library kicked them out because the staff complained that the restaurant was pricy for the workers; the plan was to open a cafeteria for the staff, which of course never happened…………speaking of “bad management decisions”.

04 Nov
DOCOMOMO Georgia

8

Indeed urban and social issues have taken a toll. But look at the Boston Library, for example. They acknowledge that they have a homeless and loitering problem – but they also have art exhibitions, exhibitions based on Library collections, and a great & popular place for lunch. All destinations for a wide audience. Why not here? Hosting of the Breuer exhibition is an admirable start.
Parking is always an issue in Atlanta. But there are hundreds of parking spaces available within a block of the Library that are often empty at night and on weekends. Why not some sort of discounted/incentivized parking arrangement for library patrons (perhaps through tax incentives, corporate or foundation sponsorship, etc.)? Parking facility operators would likely welcome more evening and weekend customers, even at a discounted rate.
The Delectables restaurant is legendary among downtowners – and BPJ’s story of its closing is oft repeated. Why not a destination restaurant in the Library? Unfortunately, if homeless patrons’ ability to dine in the facility is the measure, nothing will succeed. And why isn’t the Margaret Mitchell collection promoted to convention attendees and properly displayed?
The user experience needs some work, to say the least! Maybe time to think out of the box?

04 Nov
Terry

9

This keeps coming to my mind: The downtown streets seemed to die with the MARTA tunnels. MARTA construction disrupted streets and walkways. There were routes you just couldn’t walk for years.
When complete, the thousands of folks who would have been the streets twice a day changing buses went underground, never again connecting with downtown streets.
It was noisy, smelly, crowded, alive, and exciting.

04 Nov
american steel buildings

10

The buildings are fabulous here. American steel buildings have contemporary style with durability.
Customers imagination is american steel buildings creation.

04 Nov
Scott Ingram

11

I love to hear people talking about making this building an art or design venue. It is one of Atlanta’s modern treasures, even if most see it as a tin cup. I am very interested in what the next step might be.
Thanks Cathy, keep up the good work. i’m also glad to see your comments growing.

04 Nov
ktauches

12

Thank god for the “downturn,” as it may save this valuable building from destruction. This fine Breuer exhibition is a testament to it’s importance. And, perhaps it’s preservation can turn the tide for other endangered local Modernist beauties ( R.I.P. 615 Peachtree St building! ).

( I, too, love the idea of Breuer’s building being repurposed as a museum. Gosh, the staircases are still so lovely, in all their 70s glory! )

04 Nov

ArtsCriticATL.com

Art & Design