Upcoming Event - Marcel Breuer & Mid Century Modern Architecture

Reed Kroloff, Director of Cranbrook Academy of Art, will present a lecture and slide show on Marcel Breuer & Mid Century Modern Architecture on Wednesday, October 24, 7:30 p.m. in the Main Reading Room of the Central Library. Mr. Kroloff is formerly Dean and Professor of Architecture at Tulane School of Architecture, and is highly respected in the field. To reserve a spot, call the library at 343-2074 x220 or register online on the library's calendar.

Watch This Watch List

The World Monuments Fund placed "Main Street Modern" on its 100 Most Endangered Sites for 2008. The Grosse Pointe Library, along with a photo of our business room, is a featured example. From their website:

The primary threats faced by Modern architecture are demolition or inappropriate renovations, and the technical challenges of conserving the experimental materials and innovative building systems used in their construction. The great threat, however, is perhaps public apathy -- a lack of consensus or confidence -- that buildings of the recent past can be important enough to be preserved for the future. There are a number of significant "Main Street Modern" buildings currently threatened with demolition or degradation, including …Marcel Breuer's Grosse Pointe Public Library (1953) in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan.

The World Monuments Fund is interested in possibly committing $50,000 toward the preservation of Central Library under certain conditions. This was discussed at the August board meeting, and will be further discussed at the meeting in September. Mr. Henry Ng, Executive Vice-President of the WMF will be briefly visiting the library at the end of August.

September Meeting Plans

Our hardworking custodians will be schlepping the furniture out of the way and clearing a space in the main reading room of the Central Library for the September meeting of the building committee. We have done this many times in the past for programs, especially before the new branches were built. Unlike the National Library Week author programs where a sea of small students sat on the floor, there will be chairs to sit on. So, mark your calendars for Wednesday, September 19 at 7:00 p.m. at Central. It should be a real treat to have the architects presenting their ideas in the main reading room.

August Meeting

The Building Committee will meet on Wednesday evening, August 15, 7:00 p.m. at the Woods Branch Library. DesignLab architects will be there with their latest plans. Take a break from the boat/beach/barbecue/babes/babies/baseball or other summer pursuits and join us for an informative evening.

Upcoming Breuer Exhibit in D.C.

The National Building Museum in Washington D.C. is planning an exhibition on Breuer to open this fall.

Marcel Breuer: Design and Architecture
November 3, 2007 – February 17, 2008
First floor galleries

Marcel Breuer: Design and Architecture will focus on Marcel Breuer’s extraordinary achievement in furniture and interior design. At the same time, the exhibition will provide an opportunity to reintroduce Breuer’s long-neglected architectural work and examine its significance in the history of modern architecture.

Developed by the Vitra Design Museum in Germany (which houses one of the most extensive and comprehensive collection of Breuer’s furniture designs in the world), Marcel Breuer: Design and Architecture is the first exhibition to treat all facets of his work with equal weight from the small scale of a coffee table, through sleek residential and commercial interiors, and to large-scale buildings. The exhibition will trace the incremental development of Breuer’s daring departure from traditional wood furniture and his pivotal contribution to the history of design, with the “invention” of tubular steel furniture.

Twelve models produced exclusively for this exhibition will highlight Breuer’s extensive architectural work from residential homes to religious, cultural, and civic institutions. In addition, drawings, floor plans, photographs, models, video projection and interactive computer terminals will shed light on Breuer’s long and varied architectural career. A catalogue with more than 450 illustrations will accompany the exhibition. The National Building Museum will be the show’s exclusive North American venue.

July 11 Meeting

The DesignLab architects will be in Grosse Pointe this coming week. Bob Miklos and Scott Slarksy have been working on some preliminary ideas over the past month for the renovation and expansion of the Central Library, and will show their early conceptual designs at the upcoming building committee meeting. The meeting will be at the Woods Branch Library on Wednesday, July 11 at 7:00 p.m. It promises to be an exciting meeting. The public is invited to attend, as always.

Architects Meet The Public To Get Input On The Central Branch Project

On June 6^th, the architects for the Central Branch Projects made their first public appearance to discuss the project, their plans, and their design philosophy. Bob Miklos and Scott Slarsky, from Boston-based designLAB, came to Grosse Pointe for three days of meetings with the Library staff, Building Committee and Board members, and the public.

At the June 6^th public meeting, held at the Ewald Branch, approximately 60 people listened as Mr. Miklos and Mr. Slarsky gave a short presentation of their thoughts regarding this project and Marcel Breuer. Mr. Miklos’ and Mr. Slarsky’s enthusiasm for the project was contagious as they discussed how they will be researching all of Breuer’s buildings, paying particular attention to the Central Branch, in order to develop an understanding of Breuer’s overall philosophy and his thinking regarding our library. Mr. Miklos specifically discussed how he would be investigating, along with a landscape architect with whom he has worked on 6 prior library projects, designing a terrace or courtyard as a way to continue the openness of the present building and to provide a beautiful place to relax, read, and socialize.

Following the presentation, the architects reversed roles by seeking input from the audience about what issues were important to them and the community. For an hour, the architects listened to comments and took questions from the audience. The comments and questions ranged from consideration of putting the book stacks underground in order to preserve the open, airy, and well-lit reading room on the main floor, to discussions of handling and storage of the branch’s art pieces, and ensuring that the designs would not overwhelm or detract from the original Breuer design.

One specific area of interest was the materials used by Breuer. When he designed the building, Breuer also designed all aspects of the interior including the wall coverings and furniture. While the architects believe that some of the wall coverings may be past their prime, especially in terms of noise-dampening, they are confident that they will be able to find coverings that will provide effective noise-reduction and be consistent with Breuer’s design philosophy.

While no date for their return visits have been definitely scheduled, the architects plan to return to Grosse Pointe monthly to continue the exchange of information as they begin their design work and to be able to not only maintain the Breuer building, but to expand it in a manner that is faithful to Breuer’s overall design, look, and feel.