Projects by Name

In 1956, Breuer received the commission to design the United States Embassy in The Hague as part of an attempt to showcase American modern architecture to an international audience. Breuer designed a 4-storey L-shaped building with a glazed connector set back from the street line between the two rectangular wings. A trapezoidal auditorium projected from the rear façade of the building to the north. Steps led up to double-height recessed entries providing public access from the street. The buildings were clad in limestone and granite and enlivened by fenestration patterns in which rows of subtly recessed polished granite trapezoids mirrored slightly elongated trapezoidal windows below. Dutch critics condemned the design as ahistorical and acontextual.