Marcel Breuer

“Modern architecture is not a style, but an attitude”

With reference to the terrace with a strong overhang of its first home in New Canaan in 1948:
“Is there an architectural form today that can be considered an archetype? Is there a structural symbol comparable to the archaic column, the Gothic arch, the Renaissance dome? It is, perhaps, the cantilevered slab: light and slightly resilient to the wind…”

“Until recently, the only way to build was by the dead weight of stones or bricks or logs, stacked one on top of the other; beams or arches that depended on gravity, their strength, on the principle of compression. The great change in construction has been the transition from simple compression structures to continuous, fluid tension structures. This change is so radical that it alone would justify an entirely new architectural concept. The past has used gravity to defeat gravity; the Egyptian pyramid is broad at the base and narrows to the top. The “new structure” in its most expressive form is hollow at the bottom and substantial at the top – the very reverse of the pyramid. It represents a new epoch in the history of man, the realization of one of his oldest ambitions, the defeat of gravity……”

“As a result, we can now have structures cantilevered into the air – both horizontally and vertically, as in the case of the skyscraper. In both cases, the seemingly unsupported structure that juts into the air is really tied to the rest of the building and to the ground. The entire skeleton of the building is a continuously integrated structure, and any stress on one part of it is resisted by all the other parts of the structure. It is the principle of the tree: a structure cantilevered above the ground, with branches and limbs themselves cantilevered out from the central tree trunk…”

“Someone said that “architecture is frozen music.” This is true, although I have reservations about the word “frozen.” How about opening doors, sliding windows or walls, coming in and out, moving chairs? How about curtains, changing light, color and atmosphere… you don’t just see or photograph architecture, you live it, it should be alive, not “frozen.”

“Someone else said it’s a ‘living machine.’ Again, true, but you don’t want to get fat if you’re leaning against a wall. You want to have something simpler, more basic, more generous, and more human than a machine.”

“The true impact of any work is the extent to which it unifies conflicting notions, opposing points of view. The simple method of dealing with conflicting problems is the weak compromise. The solution to black and white contrasts is gray – that is the simple solution. Sun and shade do not mean a cloudy day.”

Marcel Breuer