In 1972 Breuer was invited to evaluate a study prepared for the World Bank on the development of tourism in Afghanistan and specifically on the proposal to build new hotels in the country in Kabul and Bamian. Breuer and Robert Gatje visited Afghanistan in July of that year. It was on this trip that Breuer suffered a major heart attack that eventually led to his retirement four years later. In 1973, after recovering from his illness, Breuer signed an agreement with the Afghani government to design the proposed hotels. Breuer was to handle the conceptual design work while the German firm Walter Brune + Partner would produce the working drawings and supervise construction. Breuer proclaimed the need to produce structures that melded the vernacular architecture of Afghanistan with modernist principles, but his designs still relied on the modular precast concrete building techniques that he was known for at the time. The major differences resulted from the groupings of buildings. Some designs show segmented curvilinear plans that follow the topography of the site while others cluster rooms into groups of ten or incorporate round yurt structures. The hotels never proceeded further than the design phase due to the uncertain political climate of the country.