Posted May 4, 2021
Central Branch Named to National Register of Historic Places
Marcel Breuer Designed Building
The Grosse Pointe Public Library Central Branch is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the Department of the Interior. Built in 1953, the library is located at 10 Kercheval Ave., Grosse Pointe Farms, MI.
“We are honored to receive this designation for our iconic Marcel Breuer designed building,” said Library Director, Jessica Keyser.
Born in Hungary in 1902, Breuer is a Bauhaus-trained architect and designer whose career spanned from the 1920s until his death in 1981.
The Grosse Pointe Central Library is one of the architect’s first major public commissions in the United States and the only one of his buildings in the Detroit area. The Library stands as an important piece of American architectural history and embodies Breuer’s design principles as an ambassador of Bauhaus ideologies and recognized master of the Modern Movement.
Breuer designed only a handful of libraries in the United States. Among them are the Atlanta Central Public Library in Georgia, the Clarksburg Harrison Public Library in West Virginia and the Hunter College Library in New York.
In 2013, the Grosse Pointe Public Library established the Breuer Preservation Fund to preserve and maintain the art and architectural integrity of the Central Branch. Breuer and W. Hawkins Ferry selected the original art in the building including the large Alexander Calder mobile and the Kandinsky inspired tapestry. Ferry was a resident of Grosse Pointe Shores and one of the original founders of the Detroit Institute of Arts. He was an important art collector and donor.
A dedication ceremony will be held this summer. Watch for more information on the Library’s web site https://grossepointelibrary.org/.
