The Starkey House: The Parts Over the Whole

Marcel Breuer's additive and juxtaposing design process is examined through his Starkey House of 1954-55 in Duluth, Minnesota. The house shows how Breuer rejected the formal purism of the time and accommodated local conditions over the formal diagram. This approach leads to strange juxtapositions of both materials and details in the work. Breuer's willingness to create juxtapositions leads to an equivalence between materials that have different architectural and cultural meaning, taking these materials out of their traditional roles and creating a 'surreal' condition. The Chapter begins with Breuer's own odyssey in residential design after leaving Germany with the important Gane's Pavilion of 1936 in England. Breuer's residential work in the United States in partnership with Gropius is also examined, particularly Breuer's own house in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Even at this early stage, the difference between Gropius' design aesthetic and Breuer's use of juxtaposition are clearly seen.