Marcel Breuer is a famous architect, known for his brutalist designs often rendered in concrete or stone. Noted works by the Bauhaus-taught architect include the Whitney Museum of American Art (recently reincarnated as the Met Breuer) and the St. John's Abbey Church in Minnesota. But Atlanta happens to be home to something particularly special: the last work designed by Breuer, finished after his death.
Completed in 1980, the Atlanta Central Public Library in downtown, just north of Woodruff Park, is highly regarded as an architectural gem, even as many in Atlanta decry it as a monolithic, hulking nuisance in the heart of the city. And so, as it goes with many buildings in Atlanta, the library is under attack, with critics saying it's time to tear it down.
In response to the outcry, Hyperallergic published a piece about the library and a similar fate likely to befall another Breuer building: the Pirelli Tire Building in Connecticut. The article tells of the struggles that Breuer's works have endured, with the brutalist style quickly falling out of favor even when he was still in active practice.
Breuer's Atlanta library has been threatened before — and other Breuer buildings have been demolished. With Atlanta's penchant for demolition, this will be an interesting one to watch as it plays out.
For now, let's hear how you feel with this poll:
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