Breuer New Haven Brutalist Building to Become Hotel

Celebrated architect Marcel Breuer (1902-1981) was well known for his Brutalist, Modernist, and International Style designs. The Hungarian-born architect was recently honored posthumously by the Metropolitan Museum of Art when they acquired the building that had previously been home to the Whitney Museum. Noting the building’s original designer, the Met named its new acquisition the Met Breuer as a tribute to his work.

The iconic Marcel Breuer designed building on the Upper East Side which now serves as the Met Breuer Museum, the Met’s contemporary and modern art wing. (Photos by Max Touhey for Curbed)

Unlike in that case, one of Breuer’s buildings in New Haven, Connecticut was facing a more uncertain and grim future. Originally, Breuer had designed the Brutalist building to serve as the headquarters of the Armstrong Rubber Co.

Pirelli Building, aka Armstrong Rubber building, New Haven, CT. Marcel Breuer, 1969-1970. (Kenneth C. Zirkel/Creative Commons)

In the years since it has changed owners to house Pirelli and now faces the possibility of conversion into a “net-zero energy boutique hotel and conference center”. While at first surprising, this could very well breathe new life into the building and preserve it for years to come – something that has become somewhat of a trend in recent years.

To learn more about Marcel Breuer and his work, check out this article by the Encyclopedia Britannica, this article by Curbed, and this article by InsideHook.com.

Article by Nick Lorenzo, Histoury Marketing and PR Intern