Marcel Breuer

Hungarian-born modernist architect and master designer Marcel Breuer (1902–1981) was a monumental titan of the 20th century whose work redefined industrial design. A pioneering student and later head of the carpentry workshop at the Bauhaus in Dessau under Walter Gropius, Breuer revolutionized modern furniture by introducing tubular steel inspired by bicycle handlebars. Breuer achieved design immortality with the iconic Wassily Chair (Model B3, 1925)—a deconstructed club chair framed in cold-bent chrome-plated tubular steel and taut leather slings, produced today by Knoll. In 1928, he created the ubiquitous Cesca Chair (B32/B64), pairing a cantilevered steel-pipe frame with traditional woven cane. His revolutionary designs transformed heavy domestic seating into transparent, floating spatial architecture.