Marcel Breuer was born in Hungary in 1902. He received his architectural degree at the Bauhaus, Weimar in 1924. He is considered the great pioneer of tubular steel chair design. Around 1925 he invented a series of systems employing continuous bent steel tubes to form structural frames for furniture. It was that year that the "Wassily" chair was produced, the first chair in tubular steel, and has become a classic in modern design. In 1946, after having a shared architectural firm, he founded Marcel Breuer & Associates in New York. He headed the firm until his retirement in 1976.