Breuer Houses - Review

Architectural Review, The, June, 2001 by Neil Jackson

By Joachim Driller. London: Phaidon. 2000. [pound]35

RICHARD NEUTRA, COMPLETE WORKS

By Barbara Lamprecht. Cologne: Taschen, 2000. [poun]100

Following the Great War, Richard Neutra left Austria for Wright in America, whereas Marcel Breuer, 10 years younger, left Hungary for Gropius at the Bauhaus. Their architecture might, therefore, be thought to have developed differently but, what is surprising, as these two new monographs show, are the apparent similarities.

Whereas Neutra's houses evolved quickly from a European modernism to something which fused the promise of technology with the openness of the New World -- 'machine in the garden', as Lamprecht puts it -- his real hope was in the development of 'biorealism'. Lamprecht describes his houses as 'a methodical search for a supple, organic algorithm for living', and they are. The same description could be used for Breuer's houses, particularly in the way they changed, in the 1950s, from lightweight framed structures to heavier masonry masses which sat firmly on the ground, becoming part of it. But later they were to become increasingly monumental, something which Driller, in conclusion, suggests Breuer regretted. Whereas Neutra never remained in the shadow of Wright, or Schindler for that matter, Breuer has never quite emerged from that of Gropius, who he had joined in America in 1937. This is an error in judgement which Driller's useful book should correct.

Lamprecht's Neutra is a daunting, boxed volume, almost 500 by 350mm, which must weigh over five kilos. Driller's Breuer is 220mm square and would just about fit in your pocket. And that is the problem, Whereas Lamprecht's is a beautifully produced object, printed in three languages with wonderful duo-tone photographs by Julius Shulman, Driller's appears dull and tawdry, the, text reduced to a point size which makes the end notes and extensive catalogue of works almost impossible to read, and the plans often too small to be useful. Phaidon have done Driller a great disservice in the design of this book and their parsimony has worked to the detriment of what is a useful study. As always, Phaidon have retained the copyright. It would serve them right if the book did not sell.