Architecture Without Rules: The Houses of Marcel Breuer and Herbert Beckhard [Paperback]

David Masello (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 17, 1996

An armchair tour through twenty strikingly innovative houses.

Internationally famous for such buildings as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (as well as for the ubiquitous "Breuer" chair), Marcel Breuer thrived on experimentation. From the 1950s through the 1970s, he and his associate Herbert Beckhard created a radical new type of American housing.

David Masello, a writer on architecture and urban design, interviewed Herbert Beckhard and many of the original clients. He introduces here twenty of Breuer and Beckhard's landmark houses, explaining how their aims are realized in the design, building materials, and use of each site.
black-and-white and color photos

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Twenty innovative houses engendered by the collaboration between Hungarian-born Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer (1902-81) and American architect Herbert Beckhard (b. 1926) are examined in this handsome volume. Breuer (famous for the eponymous chair he designed), who emigrated to the U.S. in 1937, and Beckhard, who now heads a Manhattan-based architectural firm, favored large, open interior spaces, fieldstone walls, uninterrupted glazed surfaces and structures that "float" above their sites by means of posts, trusses and supporting walls. Despite these similarities, the houses they designed together, in California, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Switzerland, are highly individualistic, modernist compositions reflecting their clients' lifestyles. Masello, a contributor to Architectural Record , affectionately walks readers through these eclectic, deliberately asymmetrical dwellings, aided by 100 black-and-white photographs and 16 pages in color.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

David Masello lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (February 17, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393313751
• ISBN-13: 978-0393313758
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #941,016 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A highly illuminating and accessible book., November 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Architecture Without Rules: The Houses of Marcel Breuer and Herbert Beckhard (Paperback)

So many architectural books can get lost in jargon, but this one never does. It's extremely readable, and its insights into the work and careers of Marcel Breuer and Herbert Beckhard are always on point and thought-provoking. The book also happens to be handsomely produced, with lots of back-and-white and color photographs of their finished work. This book is essential, I think, as a reference, and a pleasure to read throughout.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for an Architecture Enthusiast, October 28, 2000

By 

Ping Lim (Christchurch) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Architecture Without Rules: The Houses of Marcel Breuer and Herbert Beckhard (Paperback)

An in-depth analysis of collaborated works between Marcel Breur & Herbert Beckhard through their professional lives together. They are conveyed as architects who get along well with one another both professionally & personally. Marcel Breur is depicted as an architect that didn't want to force his idea upon his clients but respecting their wishes despite in some instances, that compromised with his vision of how the final outcome should be like. Ironically, thru interaction with his clients that his greatest works are produced which are discussed in detail in this book. A chapter is dedicated for every & each houses that are worth mentioning. We are told of Japanese influence upon their work, the usage of natural material in their works i.e the international style buildings which are rampant during their time. All the works are displayed in black & white photos but towards the end, colour photos are shown & that's when everything hit you as you're able to see the buildings from the other perspective. Morevoer, building layouts are provided as well. I guess the exclusion of colour in the beginning is enabling us to appreciate the form more rather than been confused with the detraction, ie. colour. To be honest, it works well in this instance. I also enjoy the layout of the book. It is easy to read, and informative. In a way, this is a semi-biography book of those 2 famous architects. Towards the end, it's heart touching to read about Herbert's reflection on the day when Marcel handed him a note, wanted him to announce to the firm that he would be retiring thereafter. It's interesting also to read about Richard Meier's beginning in Marcel's firm as well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars worth a few bones, August 2, 2005

By 

Patrick C. Grenham (Boston) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Architecture Without Rules: The Houses of Marcel Breuer and Herbert Beckhard (Paperback)

I enjoyed this book.

the pictures were clear, and the text was informative and not too full of theory, but had enough detail about the construction of the projects to satisfy my carpenter's curiousity.